"Virus Plagues the Pork Industry, and Environmentalists"

"The bodies are piling up fast. A deadly virus, porcine epidemic diarrhea, or PEDv, is estimated to have killed, on average, more than 100,000 piglets and young hogs each week since it first showed up in Iowa in May 2013, wreaking havoc on the pork industry.

The number of hogs slaughtered this year is down 4.2 percent, according to the United States Agriculture Department, to roughly 50 million from more than 52 million in the same period in 2013."

Stephanie Strom reports for the New York Times July 4, 2014.