Abstract
To investigate the infection patterns of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) in Korean pig farms, a total of 4,768 swine sera samples from 159 pig farms were taken twice, in June (n=82) and October (n=77) in 2007. In each farm selected for the survey, 10 samples from breeding pigs and 4 from each of the 5 age groups (30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 days) were taken, and all serum samples were tested for PEDV by the serum neutralization test. The overall seroprevalence was 62.6% (2,983/4,768), with the highest prevalence in breeding pigs (93.5%, 1,485/1,589). The prevalence showed an increasing trend with increasing age (30.8, 27.2, 44.7, 61.6, and 71.2% respectively in the 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 days age groups) (p<0.0001 for $x^2$ trend test). The association between age and PEDV prevalence was similar in both surveys, indicating that the infection of PEDV seemed to be occurring repeatedly in the farms surveyed. This inference could also be explained by the fact that prevalence in sows was very high despite low vaccination coverage, as they are continuously exposed to PEDV in potentially infected farms for a longer period. Based on the neutralizing antibody levels in sows and growing pigs, the majority of farms (91.8%, n=146 farms) were endemically infected with PEDV, and most of pigs seemed to be intensively infected with PEDV at around early growth (41.8%) and weaning (31.5%). On the other hand, serum neutralizing antibodies were not detected in pigs older than 30 days of age in farms classified as having no PEDV infection (n=13 farms), indicating the level of maternal antibody against PEDV is decreased on a non-detectable level before the piglet is 60 days old in the field situation. The results indicated that most farms surveyed in 2007 were affected with endemic PEDV infection. Therefore, a national monitoring and control program for the endemic type PEDV infection needs further attention.
