Dec. 15 is a key date for pork producers who wish to continue getting free laboratory testing of samples when a swine enteric coronavirus disease (SECD) is suspected, which includes porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV). That's when the Veterinary Services program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is requiring Premises Identification Numbers (PINs) to accompany diagnostic samples submitted into the SECD program.

According to the USDA, PINs have clear benefits in tracking emerging diseases such as PEDV when they are diagnosed on the farm. In fact, federal and state authorities have already seen significant improvement in the percentage of samples that are submitted with a valid PIN - growing from 10% in June to more than 75% today. This saves time and resources across the entire pork industry as the USDA continues to monitor for cases of SECD.

That is why beginning Dec. 15, the USDA will only pay for SECD sample testing if the submissions include a valid PIN. If a sample is submitted without a valid PIN, laboratories will charge for testing. A detailed list of sample tests to be paid by the USDA was previously sent to producers this past June (see below).

The Pork Checkoff has been communicating the benefits of valid PINs and wants to reinforce the upcoming requirement that all submissions be accompanied by a valid PIN.

The Federal Order also requires:

June 15 message from USDA:
The USDA will pay for diagnostic testing to support the initial diagnosis of PEDV and porcine deltacorona virus (PDCoV) in swine herds and to support the monitoring and management plans of herds meeting the USDA's case definition, regardless of the test result (positive and negative results).

Samples submitted to NAHLN laboratories from farm sites or export quarantine facilities located in the United States for PEDV and PDCoV testing will be paid for by the USDA through blanket purchase agreements with the NAHLN laboratories. These samples may include individual animal samples or environmental samples which are linked to specific farm sites and live pigs. Currently the USDA will only support diagnostic testing using PCR. Support for other diagnostic assays will be considered in the future.

Approved sample types submitted for PEDV and PDCoV PCR testing eligible for reimbursement include:

Samples submitted from truck washes, trucks, trailers, other transport vehicles, feed, feed mills and other non-farm site samples including those submitted for research purposes will not be paid for by the USDA.

Contact your NAHLN Laboratory for more information on what PEDV and PDCoV diagnostic assays are reimbursable by the USDA as well as for submission procedures for PEDV and/or PDCoV PCR testing. The local Veterinary Services district offices and NAHLN program office ([email protected]) are also able to answer specific questions.

For more about PIN tags, visit pork.org/PINtag.