Abstract
The goal of this study was to evaluate survival of important viral pathogens of livestock in animal feed ingredients imported daily into the United States under simulated transboundary conditions. Eleven viruses were selected based on global significance and impact to the livestock industry, including Foot and Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV), Classical Swine Fever Virus (CSFV), African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV), Influenza A Virus of Swine (IAV-S), Pseudorabies virus (PRV), Nipah Virus (NiV), Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV), Swine Vesicular Disease Virus (SVDV), Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV), Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV2) and Vesicular Exanthema of Swine Virus (VESV). Surrogate viruses with similar genetic and physical properties were used for 6 viruses. Surrogates belonged to the same virus families as target pathogens, and included Senecavirus A (SVA) for FMDV, Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) for CSFV, Bovine Herpesvirus Type 1 (BHV-1) for PRV, Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) for NiV, Porcine Sapelovirus (PSV) for SVDV and Feline Calicivirus (FCV) for VESV. For the remaining target viruses, actual pathogens were used. Virus survival was evaluated using Trans-Pacific or Trans-Atlantic transboundary models involving representative feed ingredients, transport times and environmental conditions, with samples tested by PCR, VI and/or swine bioassay. SVA (representing FMDV), FCV (representing VESV), BHV-1 (representing PRV), PRRSV, PSV (representing SVDV), ASFV and PCV2 maintained infectivity during transport, while BVDV (representing CSFV), VSV, CDV (representing NiV) and IAV-S did not. Notably, more viruses survived in conventional soybean meal, lysine hydrochloride, choline chloride, vitamin D and pork sausage casings. These results support published data on transboundary risk of PEDV in feed, demonstrate survival of certain viruses in specific feed ingredients (“high-risk combinations”) under conditions simulating transport between continents and provide further evidence that contaminated feed ingredients may represent a risk for transport of pathogens at domestic and global levels.
Highlights
The impact of foreign animal diseases (FADs) on global livestock production and economics has been devastating [1]
For the viruses that are endemic in the US (PRRSV, Influenza A Virus of Swine (IAV-S), Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV2), and VSV) and for ASFV, the sole member of the FAD target virus Foot and Mouth Disease Virus Classical Swine Fever Virus Pseudorabies Virus Vesicular Exanthema of Swine Virus Nipah Virus Swine Vesicular Disease Virus Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus Porcine Circovirus type 2 African Swine Fever Virus Influenza A Virus
Across the 12 viruses, 7 (SVA, ASFV, PRRSV, Porcine Sapelovirus (PSV), PCV2, Feline Calicivirus (FCV), Bovine Herpesvirus Type 1 (BHV-1) and Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV)) remained viable in 2 or more ingredients; a wide variation in viability was observed across viruses
Summary
The impact of foreign animal diseases (FADs) on global livestock production and economics has been devastating [1]. In 1997, Taiwan and the Netherlands experienced outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Classical Swine Fever (CSF), respectively [2, 3]. In the Netherlands, the CSF outbreak resulted in the slaughter of 700,000 pigs across 429 infected farms and the preemptive depopulation of 1.1 million pigs from an additional 1300 farms [3]. In 2001, the FMD outbreak in the United Kingdom resulted in the slaughter of 7 million animals, with an overall impact of $11.9-$18.4 billion, including a $4.8 billion loss to agriculture, the food industry and the public sector, $4.2-$4.9 billion in losses to the tourism sector and an additional $2.9-$3.4 billion in indirect losses [5]
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