The shelf life of feed can reduce the risk of swine disease

African swine fever (ASF) "is endemic in Africa and spread to Eastern Europe in the last decade. However, in August, he was also diagnosed in more than 20 Chinese localities, where half of the world's pigs live and are an active trading partner of the United States, "said Dr. John Deen, a professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine. from the University of Minnesota. "If ASF emigrated to the United States, this would hinder US pork exports, where other countries are now buying about 25% of pork production. The cost of the disease is estimated at $ 13.5 billion in the first year alone. "

Furthermore, Pedro E. Urriola, an assistant professor of animal science research at the University of Minnesota, added that "African swine fever and other viruses can be transmitted through animal feed and their ingredients for feeding pigs, ingredients from various parts of the world, and thereafter there is a risk of introduction of the virus into imported food ingredients.

"At the University of Minnesota, we are developing risk analysis and preventive controls as a mechanism that pork producers and the feed industry can use to mitigate the risk of disease transmission," said Urriola. .

Moreover, in an announcement published on October 9, the National Pork Board (NPB) said that PPA outbreaks in China, Belgium and elsewhere have crystallized the goal and collaboration of the US pork industry to find new ways to protect the national herd from expensive foreign animals. diseases.

According to the NPB, a new practice to reduce the risk of disease transmission is to know exactly how long certain feed ingredients have been safely stored before allowing them to be used on hog farms.

As modeling in peer-reviewed research has shown, NPB says, it is possible that swine disease viruses survive during shipments of certain food ingredients during transoceanic transport to US ports and even to feed manufacturing sites. Based on current research, a shelf life of 78 days after the date of manufacture and bagging or sealing to prevent further contamination ("born on the day") for amino acids, minerals or vitamins will degrade 99.99% of viral contamination, said NPB. The shelf life extends to 286 days for soybean meal to allow for similar virus degradation, once shipped, to avoid further contamination.

"Working with your food supplier to obtain this type of information is another way to protect your pigs from possible infection with a foreign animal disease," said Dave Pyburn, Senior Vice President of Science and Technology. from the NPB. "This is just one more tool in our arsenal against African swine fever and other diseases that we hope will provide American producers with greater protection against this growing global threat."

"It is clear from the research that certain food ingredients can contribute to the survival of the virus in conditions modeled on transatlantic or transpacific transshipment in US ports," said Dr. Paul Sundberg, director of the Information Center on Disease Control. swine health. "Based on these results, we believe that it is prudent that the entire US pork industry review this research and plans to take steps to help us prevent a DCP from occurring." to enter this country by this way ".

In a related area of ​​disease prevention, the NPB, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), the American Association of Pork Veterinarians (AASV) and the Pork Health Information Center have recommended that producers find out from their food suppliers about seven key areas:

1. Describe the biosecurity program of the facility to minimize the spread of pathogens from people, vehicles and ingredients.

2. Describe the training of facility personnel on feed safety.

3. Describe the facility's pest control program.

4. Describe the traceability program of the facility.

5. Describe the supplier's approval program for the facility.

6. Ask if the facility is certified by a third-party certification body for food safety. Third-party certification programs may include food additive manufacturers (FAMI-QS), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), safe quality foods, animal feed / commodities food, etc.

7. Ask if the establishment uses ingredients manufactured or packaged outside of the United States?

To better understand the risk of transmitting exotic animal diseases through your farm, via a feed ingredient, Sundberg suggested producers use the decision tree matrix for transporting the newly developed virus in forage ingredients. "It was developed to help producers work with their feed suppliers to minimize the risks associated with their ingredients," he said.

In addition to specific ways related to feeding to reduce the risk of disease, AASV Executive Director Tom Burkgren said producers should review their current biosecurity plan on the farm with their veterinarian. "While this is always a good thing to do periodically, it is now extremely important to detect any weaknesses in your production methods so that you can take immediate steps to correct them to protect your animals."

The four hog groups continue to collectively contact officials from the US Department of Agriculture, including Chief Veterinarian Jack Shere, to see what can be done to improve the protection of the national hog herd against PPP and all animal diseases of foreign origin.

"US Agriculture needs to strengthen its defenses against the spread of animal diseases at increased risk," said Liz Wagstrom, chief veterinarian of NPPC. "These measures should include private sector efforts such as those that have enlightened this feed directive, as well as publicly funded epidemic protection programs that would immediately shut down export markets and threaten the prosperity of rural America. "

Meanwhile, researchers at Kansas State University and the Biosecurity Research Institute have several projects focused on PPP. Their research topics vary, but they share the same goal, which is to stop the spread of the virus and prevent it from reaching the United States, Kansas State announced in an announcement.

There is no vaccine or cure for this disease, which causes haemorrhagic fever and high mortality in pigs. It does not infect humans.

"The introduction of African swine fever in China poses an increased threat to the United States," said Stephen Higgs, director of the Institute for Biosafety Research. "The introduction of African swine fever virus in the United States would have a huge impact on our agricultural industry." Research, education and training at the Institute for Biosecurity Research contribute to to improve our understanding and preparation for this threat. "

In 2013, the Biosecurity Research Institute became the first non-federal institution to be accredited for the treatment of the APP virus, Higgs said. The academic projects of the Biosafety Research Institute are part of the research that can move to the national bio-defense and agro-defense facility as soon as it will be fully operational. ASF is one of the diseases to study in the facility, which is under construction near the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan.