Monitoring the Spread of Swine Enteric Coronavirus Diseases in the United States in the Absence of a Regulatory Framework

Perez, Andres M.; Alba, Anna; Goede, Dane; McCluskey, Brian; Morrison, Robert

The USDA EMRS is an information technology system designed to provide timely and effective response to animal health emergencies, including foreign animal disease (FAD) investigations and state and national animal disease incidents (12) . Federal, state, and tribal animal health officials use the EMRS to record and view animal disease data, manage incident response services and resources, and create reports and maps to facilitate disease investigations and associated epidemiological analyses. On June 5, 2014, according to the Federal Order (FO) issued by the USDA, the EMRS was designated as the official system for the recording of all SECD situation data collection, information management, and reporting. The FO mandated the reporting of SECD cases (16) . The EMRS also received testing data provided by the NAHLN laboratories. The NAHLN data were electronically transmitted into the EMRS to facilitate the response activities. The emergency response officials investigated all the SECD case reports that were initiated by sharing the lab results or other communication channels and determined the SECD status of each reported herd/ premise. On the basis of lab test results and consultations with herd owners and herd veterinarians, the premises received a status of confirmed or presumptive positive for PEDV, PDCoV, or both viruses. In accordance with the USDA case definition, a confirmed positive herd/premise was a site with animals that had at least one positive for PEDV or PDCoV to a PCR test and a history of clinical signs consistent with SECD, whereas a presumptive herd/premise had animals that tested positive for either disease without manifesting clinical signs (17, 18) . The status of the premises was reported into the EMRS as soon as a federal or state official had confirmed all the information sources required and the status could be updated, modified, or closed until the new information became available.