Comparing African swine fever stability in feed at different storage temps

The survivability of African swine fever in feed varies on holding temperature.

That’s the verdict of Dr. Megan Niederwerder, associate director of the Swine Health Information Center, following what she calls a robust study involving complete feed, soybean meal, and corncob particles held in cool, ambient, or hot storage.

“We could detect ASF DNA that’s based on a PCR test, so it’s looking at the genome, in those feed ingredients for up to 365 days when stored at 40 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit.”

She tells Brownfield ASF was most infectious in soybean meal, and her take home for pork producers is feed biosecurity and how it can be incorporated into the feed mill setting or on swine farms.