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Over-the-road study looks at swine virus survivability in feed trucked cross country
Researchers at Pipestone Veterinary Services are testing the survivability of swine viruses in feed under actual shipping conditions.
Dr. Scott Dee with Minnesota-based Pipestone says to truly understand the risk, the study needed to be outside the laboratory.
“This friend of mine had some access to a large warehouse first of all, and a commercial trucking company where we could hire those resources to prepare the totes that we inoculated and use of a truck for a period of time.”
Once approved by USDA, he tells Brownfield they infused the feed with three different viruses (PEDv, PRRS, and Seneca Valley) and sent the truck off on a commercial route that would offer exposure to several climates.
“They left Minnesota and went down into Kansas City. Then it went out to Denver, came through New Mexico and Texas all the way across the Gulf Coast and up the Eastern Seaboard to Portland, Maine.”
The truck then went west across the Great Lakes and returned to Minnesota in mid-January after more than three weeks on the road.
Dee says the trip went well and they are analyzing the data with hopes of releasing their findings by the end of February. He adds the preliminary results indicate the viruses did survive the journey.
