Dive Brief:
- The USDA will require the pork industry to track and report all instances of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, a fast-spreading disease that has struck in 29 states and killed millions of young pigs.
- The disease does not threaten humans or food safety, but the threat to the pork supply is substantial.
- Federal regulators have faced criticism for not requiring tracking and reporting earlier in the outbreak.
Dive Insight:
This move is long overdue. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, or PED, is spreading like crazy: In July the disease had been detected in only 14 states; a year before that, it was nonexistent in the United States.
It's clear that the USDA isn't required to track PED, as the virus is widespead outside the U.S. and is not seen as trade-limiting. Given that PED also can't hurt people, the USDA doesn't have a legal obligation to track the virus' spread.
USDA does, however, have some ethical obligations to food producers. We're pleased to see that the agency is now acting accordingly.