Abstract
African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a member of the nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs) and is stable in a variety of environments, including animal feed ingredients as shown in previous laboratory experiments and simulations. Emiliania huxleyi virus (EhV) is another member of the NCLDVs, which has a restricted host range limited to a species of marine algae called Emiliania huxleyi. This algal NCLDV has many similar morphological and physical characteristics to ASFV thereby making it a safe surrogate, with results that are applicable to ASFV and suitable for use in real-world experiments. Here we inoculated conventional soybean meal (SBMC), organic soybean meal (SBMO), and swine complete feed (CF) matrices with EhV strain 86 (EhV-86) at a concentration of 6.6 × 107 virus g−1, and then transported these samples in the trailer of a commercial transport vehicle for 23 days across 10,183 km covering 29 states in various regions of the United States. Upon return, samples were evaluated for virus presence and viability using a previously validated viability qPCR (V-qPCR) method. Results showed that EhV-86 was detected in all matrices and no degradation in EhV-86 viability was observed after the 23-day transportation event. Additionally, sampling sensitivity (we recorded unexpected increases, as high as 49% in one matrix, when virus was recovered at the end of the sampling period) rather than virus degradation best explains the variation of virus quantity observed after the 23-day transport simulation. These results demonstrate for the first time that ASFV-like NCLDVs can retain viability in swine feed matrices during long-term transport across the continental United States.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 1059118 |
Journal | Frontiers in Microbiology |
Volume | 13 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 9 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This project was funded by SAM Nutrition.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Palowski, Balestreri, Urriola, van de Ligt, Sampedro, Dee, Shah, Yancy, Shurson and Schroeder.
Keywords
- African swine fever virus
- Emiliania huxleyi virus
- NCLDVs
- feed
- transport
- viability PCR
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article