Thomas G. Gillespie, DVM, Diplomate, ABVP
Swine Health Management Specialty
Megan S. Inskeep, DVM
Member of Swine Health Alliance
www.swinehealthalliance.com
210 East Wood Road
Rensselaer, IN 47978
(219) 866-6465
Fax (219) 866-3431
www.rssvet.com
PEDv Action Plan for Sow Farms
What to look for:
 PEDv can present in several different ways and varies in severity, i.e. clinical signs. The virus
often shows early clinical signs in gestation or farrowing. Look for these clinical symptoms,
which can present in any order:
o Sows off feed
o Sows with loose stools (very watery)
o Sows that are vomiting
o Piglets with loose stools
o Piglets that are vomiting
 Clinical signs typically spread very fast (within hours or overnight) so different ages will express
the symptoms. Please contact us immediately if you are experiencing these clinical symptoms.
If PED is confirmed or highly suspected:
 Piglets to be weaned:
o Pigs that are 8 to 10 days of age and older need to be weaned immediately and put on
nursery diets. These pigs need a lot of attention, especially in the first week after
weaning:
 Provide pigs with a mat and zonal heat (warm dry environment). The pigs will be
chilled due to the virus and dehydration. Keep the mat dry at all times – use
drying agents (Mistral).
 Run electrolytes in the water (we prefer Acid Pak 4-way) along with an antibiotic
(Gentacin or Neomycin seems to work depending on your farm’s situation).
 Provide supplemental creep feed or gruel feed for the pigs that contain water,
electrolytes, and solid feed (no milk replacer).
 Sow Farm:
o The process that will be followed is called Load, Close and Expose (LCE).
o All slws on the farm (in gestation, farrowing and gilts in isolation/acclimation) need to be
exposed to the virus. It is crucial that you are successful in exposing every animal to
the virus. Nearly 100% of the piglets that remain at the farm (and are less than 10 days
of age) will die from dehydration from the virus.
o Feedback protocols are developed for each farm on an individual basis. Please contact us
to set up a feedback protocol for your farm.
 Piglets that are left at the sow farm:
o Stop all processing/castrating procedures, as these pigs will not survive.
o Sows will continue to farrow normally with healthy piglets. However, these piglets will
become infected and die within days after birth. Piglets that are suffering should be
humanely euthanized. It takes several weeks for the sows to build up immunity to pass
onto their piglets.

o Composting and incinerating are better methods of disposal. Rendering is a last resort
option – PEDv will be worse if co-infections are present that could enter your farm from
a rendering truck. If your only option is rendering, it is important to review your
biosecurity program with your veterinarian so other pathogens do not enter your farm.
Gilts:
o Consider four months’ supply of gilts to be housed in the sow unit or in a separate
location so exposure activities can produce protective immunity prior to entering the sow
herd.
o If you have gilts in isolation, they need to also be exposed to the feedback using the same
protocol as above.
o If you do not have gilts in isolation, save some of the feedback material and store it in
your freezer so that gilts can be exposed before entering the sow herd.
o *Work with us on exposure to gilts – this will depend on the timing on the break
compared to your current gilt situation.
Cycling of sows/effect on breeding groups:
 Because sows will lose their entire litters, you will have a lot of sows coming into heat at the
same time. Use MATRIX on these sows to prevent them from cycling in an attempt to even out
breeding groups. It will be several weeks before breeding groups return to normal.
o Start administering MATRIX on the day of weaning.
o Use 9cc for larger sows and 6.8 cc for gilts and smaller sows.
o Sows will be in heat around 3 to 5 days after the last dose.
Internal Biosecurity:

Biosecurity is just an important for a successful result, as the feedback program is for exposure.
About a week after the feedback program is completed, begin implementing your internal
biosecurity program. The goal is to reduce the viral load (amount of virus) on the farm. The
following are all steps that should be including in your protocol:
o Minimize cross fostering between rooms and between litters for several weeks.
o Use foot baths with disinfectants at the doorway to every farrowing room, and change
frequently.
o Wash and disinfect equipment that is used between rooms.
o Process scouring litters last (when you return to processing).
o Change needles between litters.
o Disinfect processing equipment between litters, and change disinfectant often.
o Wash and disinfect hallways and rooms, even where animals are housed. This is
especially important after moving animals to clean hallways immediately. Please note
that large quantities of virus are excreted from infected animals.
o Do not step in farrowing crates except on weaning day (when you return to weaning).
Returning to normal:
 The average amount of time for a farm to start weaning pigs again is 3-5 weeks after the
feedback program. When you are approaching third week post-exposure, you may be able to
starting processing pigs again. Use a diluted form of Gentacin on all litters to control E. coli
infections, even if they are not scouring.
Items to consider having on stock:
 Matrix (sow farm)
 Gentacin (sow farm)
 Neomycin or Gentacin (nurseries)
 Acid Pak 4-way or electrolyte product (nurseries)