This is our Friday rubric: every week a new Science Page from the Bob Morrison’s Swine Health Monitoring Project. The previous editions of the science page are available on our website.
This week’s Science Page is a summary of research done by Md Karim Uddin, Shah Hasan, Olli Peltoniemi, and Claudio Oliviero of the University of Helsinki in Helsinki, Finland. The authors looked at the effect of several factors, including birth order, on piglet growth performances and preweaning survival rates.
This is our Friday rubric: every week a new Science Page from the Bob Morrison’s Swine Health Monitoring Project. The previous editions of the science page are available on our website.
A review paper was recently published in the Transboundary and Emerging Diseases journal, result of a collaboration between the University of Minnesota and Alexandria University. In this publication, available in open access, researchers describe the survival rates of the virus on various surfaces and the impact of temperature and humidity.
This is our Friday rubric: every week a new Science Page from the Bob Morrison’s Swine Health Monitoring Project. The previous editions of the science page are available on our website.
Today, we are presenting a paper published by Dr. Maxim Cheeran‘s lab in Veterinary Sciences regarding the stability of PEDV on fomite materials at different temperatures.
Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus and its transmission
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) causes highly contagious viral enteritis in swine. In May 2013, a PEDV strain, genetically related to a Chinese strain, was introduced in the US and spread rapidly across the country causing high mortality in piglets. Over eight million pigs were killed during this outbreak, leading to an estimated loss of 1.8 billion US dollars.
Transmission of PEDV primarily occurs by the fecal-oral route, but indirect transmission can occur when an animal comes in contact with inanimate objects (fomites) contaminated with the feces of PEDV-infected animals.
Methods
200 μL of virus containing 2.1 × 106 TCID50/mL was applied on various fomite material: Styrofoam, nitrile gloves, cardboard, aluminum foil, Tyvek® coveralls, cloth, metal, rubber, and plastic. The virus-contaminated fomites were then stored at either 4◦C or at room temperature. Samples were then taken at 0,1 2, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 days post-contamination to test for virus stability.
Results
Infectious PEDV was recovered from fomite materials for up to 15 days post application at 4◦C; only 1 to 2 logs of virus were inactivated during the first 5 days post application. On the other hand, PEDV survival decreased precipitously at room temperature within 1 to 2-days post application, losing 2 to 4 log titers within 24 h as can be seen on the figure above.
Immunoplaque assay was used to identify positive fomites after 20 days of storage at 4◦C. Immunoplaque assay is much more sensitive than PCR and can detect virus as low concentration as 24 focus forming units/mL. Titers of approximately 1 × 10^3 FFU/mL were observed in eluates from Styrofoam, metal, and plastic, representing a 3-log virus inactivation after 20 days. The surviving virus on Tyvek® coverall and rubber surfaces was moderately above detection limit (24 FFU/mL).
Abstract
Indirect transmission of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) ensues when susceptible animals contact PEDV-contaminated fomite materials. Although the survival of PEDV under various pHs and temperatures has been studied, virus stability on different fomite surfaces under varying temperature conditions has not been explored. Hence, we evaluated the survival of PEDV on inanimate objects routinely used on swine farms such as styrofoam, rubber, plastic, coveralls, and other equipment. The titer of infectious PEDV at 4 °C decreased by only 1 to 2 log during the first 5 days, and the virus was recoverable for up to 15 days on Styrofoam, aluminum, Tyvek® coverall, cloth, and plastic. However, viral titers decreased precipitously when stored at room temperature; no virus was detectable after one day on all materials tested. A more sensitive immunoplaque assay was able to detect virus from Styrofoam, metal, and plastic at 20 days post application, representing a 3-log loss of input virus on fomite materials. Recovery of infectious PEDV from Tyvek® coverall and rubber was above detection limit at 20 days. Our findings indicate that the type of fomite material and temperatures impact PEDV stability, which is important in understanding the nuances of indirect transmission and epidemiology of PEDV.
