Paris | Reuters — Mexico reported outbreaks of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) in 17 states out of 19 tested, the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) said.

Following reports of unusually high mortality, mainly in piglets, in the central-western part of the country, Mexican veterinary officials tested 2,309 samples between August 2013 and May 2014 in farms and slaughterhouses, the Mexican agriculture ministry told the OIE.

These showed that 30 per cent were positive for PED, suggesting there may be some other causative agent involved in this event, the ministry said.

The OIE posted the report on its own website on Thursday.

Mexico has 31 states plus the federal district of Mexico.

The country, which has around 16 million pigs, has banned imports of live pigs from the U.S. since last June, the Mexican ministry said. It added that Mexican authorities had killed 770 pigs since the virus was first detected.

PEDv has killed around seven million young pigs since it was first identified in the U.S. almost a year ago, sending pork prices rocketing.

The Mexican states where positive PEDv cases were identified were Aguascalientes, Baja California, Colima, Federal District, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, State of Mexico, Michoacan, Morelos, Nuevo Leon, Puebla, Queretaro, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tlaxcala and Veracruz, the ministry said.

Samples from the states of Yucatan and of Oaxaca were negative for the disease.

The ministry said that, to date, it had not been possible to isolate the virus.

Countries are obliged to report outbreaks of PEDv to the OIE.

Canada has confirmed PEDv in hogs on 62 farms, mainly in southwestern Ontario, since the disease arrived there in January. In the U.S., the virus has been confirmed in hogs on over 6,600 farms across 30 states.

— Reporting for Reuters by Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris; additional reporting for Reuters by Adriana Barrera in Mexico City. Includes files from AGCanada.com Network staff.