Originally published on September 20, 2013

A disease that has already killed some 1.3 million hogs in the United States is threatening to wipe out many more in pig-producing Oklahoma as the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus, or PEDv, outbreak continues to spread.

New evidence suggests that PEDv, which can kill up to 80 percent of all piglets it comes in contact with, can be carried by the wind, potentially bringing a new dangerous element to the swine disease.

"There is a chance that airborne contaminated feces may have played a role in the rapid dissemination" of the virus, particularly in Oklahoma, Dr. Montserrat Torremorell, who is leading research efforts on the outbreak at the University of Minnesota's College of Veterinary Medicine, told Reuters.

Although it poses no threat to humans, PEDv has already affected several farmers in the country, who have less stock to sell to one of the largest pig markets in the world. Consumers, too, could feel the pinch if smaller supplies and forecasts of a 10 percent jump in cash hog prices later this year translate to higher prices at the grocery meat counter, Reuters reported.

"In the blink of an eye, 30,000 pigs were dead," said John Prestage, senior vice president at Prestage, told Reuters, describing the first wave of devastation the virus brought to its Oklahoma operation, which raises and sells 400,000 hogs a year.

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