Month: February 2017

Efficacy of three disinfectants against Senecavirus A on five surfaces and at two temperatures

What disinfectant to use against Senecavirus A? Does it vary based on surface type or temperature? These are the questions that a group of researchers from the University of Minnesota – Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory are answering in the latest issue of the Journal of Swine Health and Production (JSHAP).

The project tested:
3 disinfectants: Household bleach, a phenolic disinfectant, and a quaternary ammoniun-aldehyde
5 surfaces: aluminium, stainless steel, rubber, cement, and plastic
2 temperatures: 25°C (77F) and 4°C (39F)

singh-et-al-2017-disinfectants-against-senecavirus-a

Summary
Objectives: To evaluate the virucidal efficacy of three commercial disinfectants against Senecavirus A (SVA) on five different surfaces at ~25°C and 4°C.
Materials and methods: Household bleach, a phenolic disinfectant, and a quaternary ammonium-aldehyde disinfectant were tested at manufacturer’s recommended concentrations against a contemporary strain of SVA on aluminum, stainless steel, rubber, cement, and plastic surfaces at ~25°C and 4°C. Virus propagation and titration were performed on swine testicular cells. Viral titers were calculated before and after exposure to the disinfectant being tested.
Results: At ~25°C, household bleach at 1:20 dilution inactivated ≥ 99.99% of the virus within 10 to 15 minutes on aluminum, rubber, and plastic. On stainless steel and cured cement, it inactivated 99.97% and 99.98% of the virus, respectively. At 4°C, bleach inactivated ≥ 99.99% of the virus within 5 to15 minutes on all surfaces except rubber; on rubber, inactivation was 99.91% after 15 minutes. The phenolic disinfectant at the manufacturer’s recommended concentration inactivated only ≤ 82.41% of the virus at either temperature and on any surface, even after a 60-minute contact time. Results for the quaternary ammonium disinfectant were intermediate: 78.12% to 99.81% of the virus was inactivated within 60 minutes at both temperatures and on all surfaces. To detect differences between disinfectants, paired Wilcoxon tests were performed. At 10- and 15-minute time points, efficacies of the three disinfectants differed significantly.
Implications: Significant variation exists in the antiviral efficacies of different disinfectants. Hence, they should be tested against various pathogens before use in the field.

Link to the full article

Dr. Bob Thompson Named the 2017 Allen D. Leman Science in Practice Award Recipient

This year the Science in Practice award, given by the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine, will be presented to Dr. Bob Thompson, DVM with PIC (Pig Improvement Company).

“Boehringer Ingelheim is pleased to join the University of Minnesota in congratulating Dr. Thompson, an outstanding swine practitioner whose work ensures pig health is a priority from start to finish,” says Lara Sheeley, director of marketing for the BI swine division. “BI is committed to supporting swine industry leaders in their pursuit of knowledge and science to drive innovative solutions.”

The Allen D. Leman Science in Practice Award is given each year at the Allen D. Leman Swine Conference to a swine practitioner who has shown an exceptional ability to utilize science in day to day practice. The swine practitioner who receives the award bears the primary responsibility to move research into the field. Nominations and selection of the winner are governed by the Swine Faculty Planning Committee at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota.

“For more than 20 years this award has honored some of the most accomplished veterinary leaders in the swine industry,” says Bob Morrison, DVM, MBA, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine at the University of Minnesota. “We are excited to partner with Boehringer Ingelheim this year in honoring Dr. Thompson.”

The Science in Practice award reception will take place during the Allen D. Leman Swine Conference, September 16−19, 2017 at the Saint Paul RiverCentre. Visit www.lemanswine.umn.edu for more information and to register for the conference.

 

Success for the swine graduate students at the 2017 MVMA

mvma-collage

The swine group was well represented at the 2017 MVMA meeting. Ms. Alyssa Anderson and Dr. Karine Ludwig Takeuti both gave a presentation on diagnostic tools to detect Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae infections. Drs. Jorge Garrido Mantilla and Fabian Chamba Pardo shared the latest update on swine influenza. Dr. Amy Kinsley explained how the structure of a swine farm can influence disease persistence. Dr. Talita Resende shared the advantages of a fairly recent diagnostic technique: in situ hybridization. Congratulations to Ms. Alyssa Anderson who also received a $5,000 Food Animal Scholarship from the MVM Foundation!

A new indirect ELISA to identify antibodies against Senecavirus A is now available at the UMN-VDL

dvorak-elisa-senecavirus-a
Today, we are very pleased to report that a new indirect ELISA to identify Senecavirus A antibodies has been validated at the University of Minnesota and is now available for our Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory clients. This ELISA targets specifically antibodies against Viral Protein 2 (VP2) and has a sensitivity of 94.2% and a specificity of 89.7%. The test does not cross react with antibodies against Foot-and-Mouth Disease allowing for a quick differentiation between a Senecavirus A outbreak and a costly foreign animal disease.
elisa-types
Fig 1: Different ELISA types (Source: nptel.ac.in)
Abstract
Background: Senecavirus A (SVA), a member of the family Picornaviridae, genus Senecavirus, is a recently identified single-stranded RNA virus closely related to members of the Cardiovirus genus. SVA was originally identified as a cell culture contaminant and was not associated with disease until 2007 when it was first observed in pigs with Idiopathic Vesicular Disease (IVD). Vesicular disease is sporadically observed in swine, is not debilitating, but is significant due to its resemblance to foreign animal diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), whose presence would be economically devastating to the United States. IVD disrupts swine production until foreign animal diseases can be ruled out. Identification and characterization of SVA as a cause of IVD will help to quickly rule out infection by foreign animal diseases.
Methods: We have developed and characterized an indirect ELISA assay to specifically identify serum antibodies to SVA. Viral protein 1, 2 and 3 (VP1, VP2, VP3) were expressed, isolated, and purified from E. coli and used to coat plates for an indirect ELISA. Sera from pigs with and without IVD symptoms as well as a time course following animals from an infected farm, were analyzed to determine the antibody responses to VP1, VP2, and VP3.
Results: Antibody responses to VP2 were higher than VP1 and VP3 and showed high affinity binding on an avidity ELISA. ROC analysis of the SVA VP2 ELISA showed a sensitivity of 94.2% and a specificity of 89.7%. Compared to IFA, the quantitative ELISA showed an 89% agreement in negative samples and positive samples from 4–60 days after appearance of clinical signs. Immune sera positive for FMDV, encephalomyocarditis virus, and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus antibodies did not cross-react.
Conclusions: A simple ELISA based on detection of antibodies to SVA VP2 will help to differentially diagnose IVD due to SVA and rule out the presence of economically devastating foreign animal diseases.

Link to the full article

The UMN swine group will be at the 48th AASV meeting in Denver

Next week-end will start the 48th American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) meeting in Denver, CO. As usual, numerous UMN-CVM faculty and graduate students will be attending and presenting the results of their latest research. We hare looking forward  to seeing you there!

Pre-conference seminars:

  • Doug Marthaler: Porcine rotaviruses: what we know and what we are still missing
  • Maria Pieters: Current tools to approach Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae diagnostic cases

Research topics:

  • Michael Murtaugh: Broadly neutralizing antibodies to recent, virulent type 2 PRRSV isolates
  • Michael Rahe: Characterization of the memory immune response to PRRSV infection
  • Fabian Chamba Pardo: Effect of influenza prevalence at weaning on transmission, clinical signs and performance after weaning
  • Talita Resende: Mycoplasma hyorhinis associated with conjunctivitis in pigs

Antibiotic session:

  • Peter Davies: Antibiotic use metrics

Managing the reproductive herd for high health and productivity

  • Maria Pieters: A pig’s early challenges

Student session:

  • Alyssa Anderson: Use of molecular characterization tools to investigate Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae outbreaks
  • Hunter Baldry: Evaluation of positive pressure filtration to reduce aerosol transmission of PRRSV during an experimental challenge of farm access points
  • Chris Deegan: Dynamics of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae colonization, seroconversion and onset of clinical signs in a population of gilts under field conditions
  • Zhen Yang: Investigating Porcine Circovirus Associated Disease (PCVAD) in commercial swine herd by next generation sequencing

Posters:

  • Fabian Chamba Pardo: Influenza A virus prevalence and seasonality in midwestern US breeding herds
  • Donna Drebes: Trends in Lawsonia intracellularis PCR to the submissions to the UMN-VDL over a 10-year period
  • Kevin Gustafson: B-cell tetramer monitoring of the memory immune response to PRRSV
  • Taylor Homann: Characterizing piglet loss from PRRS outbreak