Fatty acids, well known to have a positive effect on human nutrition, may also one day help to protect pigs from a deadly virus.
Kansas State University researchers have proven that when swine feed contains medium chain fatty acids — a category of fatty acids known for being easily absorbed by a human body — those pigs will be able to fend off the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, or PEDV, which claimed an estimated 8 million pigs in 2014.
Their research, however, is far from done as they try to figure out how to use the medium chain fatty acids at low enough levels to keep producers’ feed costs down.
