Leaders in the U.S. pork industry are recommending and imported feed ingredients be held out of the market longer than the current minimum standards to ensure that dangerous infectious diseases die.
Based on new research, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC), the National Pork Board, the National Pork Producers Council and the American Association of Swine Veterinarians have revised the information for feed holding times.
The Institute for Feed Education and Research (IFEEDER), the public charity of the American Feed Industry Association, helped fund the research that resulted in the updated recommendations.
The studies looked at Seneca virus which is believed to be the longest-surviving virus in feedstuffs, but the main concern is African Swine Fever (ASF).
“The science on viral transmission through feed and feedstuffs is still relatively young, but it has yielded some interesting and potentially useful information on mitigating the spread of costly viruses, such as ASF,” said veterinarian Paul Sundberg, executive director of the Swine Health Information Center.
“This includes recognition that not all imported feedstuffs are manufactured and handled in the same way. It’s important to know whether ingredients are produced under biosecure conditions and how they were shipped,” he said.
