Why the study?
African swine fever virus is transmissible via contaminated feed, prompting evaluation of its stability across feed matrices and storage temperatures.
ASFV maintains infectivity in feed ingredients, particularly soybean meal, for extended periods depending on temperature, highlighting the risk of transmission through contaminated feed.
May inform swine feed biosecurity protocols; leaves open field validation of transmission risk.
African swine fever virus (ASFV) causes high case fatality in pigs and a trade-limiting disease resulting in significant economic losses to pork production. ASFV is resistant to environmental degradation and maintains infectivity in feed ingredients exposed to transoceanic shipment conditions. As ASFV is transmissible through consumption of contaminated feed, the objective of this study was to evaluate the stability of ASFV Georgia 2007 in three feed matrices (complete feed, soybean meal, ground corncobs) exposed to three environmental storage temperatures (40°F, 68°F, 95°F) for up to 365 days. ASFV DNA was highly stable and detectable by qPCR in almost all feed matrices through the conclusion of each study. Infectious ASFV was most stable in soybean meal, maintaining infectivity for at least 112 days at 40°F, at least 21 days at 68°F and at least 7 days at 95°F. These data help define risk of ASFV introduction and transmission through feed ingredients.
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Niederwerder et al. (2022) studied this question.
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