The national agrarian health service of Peru (SENASA) officially informed Chile's agricultural and livestock service on 19 November about PED in pigs in southern Peru, specifically in the cities of Tacna and Moquegua.

PED is not present in Chile, according to the ministry of agriculture (SAG) there.

PED is a viral disease that only affects pigs, is not transmissible to humans, characterised by watery diarrhoea and weight loss of the animal. Transmission between pigs occurs through ingestion of faeces or other items contaminated with the virus; while indirect transmission is by means of vehicles that may be contaminated, including feed trucks, vehicles, staff, equipment and other contaminated by faeces, including feed items.

PED prevention focuses on control measures to prevent the entry of disease nurseries and early detection, both effective ways to prevent the introduction and spread of the virus.

The National Director of SAG, Angel Sartori, said: "They are taking all the necessary measures to keep Chile free of porcine epidemic diarrhoea, with extreme caution at border controls and systems enabling early detection and rapid response. Moreover, we continue to review the requirements for the importation of pig products capable of transmitting this disease."

The presence of this disease in pigs does not pose risks to human health or food safety but it can cause huge economic losses to pig producers, said SAG, adding that it was implementing the following measures to safeguard to prevent entry of the disease:

• organising meetings with the pigs and cattle farmers
• strengthening sanitary barriers at the borders at Chacalluta, Visviri and Chungará
• checking all products imported from Peru.