Waiting time for food may reduce the risk of swine disease

The outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) in China, Belgium and elsewhere have crystallized the attention and collaboration of the US pork industry to find new ways to help protect the national herd from costly exotic animal diseases ( DCP). 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 pig farms.

As is evident from the peer-reviewed research models1, it is possible that swine disease viruses survive in shipments of certain food ingredients during transoceanic transport to US ports and even to manufacturing points. animal feed in inland waters. 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. 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, Executive Vice President of Science and Technology of Canada. National Pork Board. "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."

Among the foods studied that have shown their potential for survival include: conventional soybean meal1, DDGS1, lysine hydrochloride1, choline chloride1, vitamin D1, pork sausage casings1, dry and wet dog food1, oilcake organic soybean1, organic soybean meal1 and pork ingredients2. Other untested foods may be able to ensure the survival of pathogenic viruses. Scientific studies and concept validation work in this area are continuing. To date, without organized surveillance programs, pathogenic swine viruses are not identified in imported feeds.

"It is clear from the research that certain food ingredients can contribute to the survival of the virus under conditions modeled on transatlantic or transpacific shipments to US ports," said Paul Sundberg, DVM, 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 National Pork Board, the National Pork Producers Council, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians and the Swine Health Information Center recommend producers contact their food suppliers for information. in seven key areas.

1. Describe the facility's biosecurity program to minimize the spread of pathogens from people, vehicles and ingredients.
2. Describe the training of the facility's employees on feed safety.
3. Describe the facility's pest management program.
4. Describe the traceability program of the facility.
5. Describe the vendor approval program for the facility.
6. Is the installation certified by a third-party certification body for food safety? Third-party certification programs may include animal feed additives manufacturers (FAMI-QS), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), safe food quality (SQF), food for safe animals / healthy foods, etc.
7. Does the facility use ingredients manufactured or packaged outside the United States?

To better understand the risk of transporting FADs from your farm through a food ingredient, Sundberg recommends producers use the newly developed virus transporter in the food ingredient decision tree matrix. "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 to reduce the risk of feed-related disease, Tom Burkgren, DVM, Executive Director of AASV, advises producers to review their current on-farm biosecurity plan 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 groups of hogs continue to collectively search for USDA officials, including Chief Veterinarian Jack Shere, to see what can be done to improve the protection of the domestic swine herd against ASF and all FADs.

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