"We found an amazing IGA response in oral fluid that persisted for a long time," Dr. Luis Gimenez-Lirola, a scientist at the Iowa State University Diagnostic Laboratory, told swine veterinarians at the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) conference.

"If you want to do surveillance in the field for PEDv, IGA antibodies in oral fluid is the sample that producers should take into account when they want to keep well-monitoring the farm for PEDv."

Oral fluid testing offers many benefits to the pig producer.

"It's very easy to collect without any stress for the animal but also allows you to monitor the animal very frequently," he said. "You can collect samples daily if you want, but weekly or bi-weekly should be fine. It gives you an overview of your farm without a tremendous cost if you compare with serum sample collection."

Using oral fluids to continuously test for PEDv in swine herds is growing.

"We have a lot requests for PCR testing using oral fluids," he said. "At the ISU Diagnostic Laboratory, it is the second test most requested after PRRS. The demand is growing."