African swine fever: transmission through feed unlikely : International research on ASF viruses published

Isle of Riems, 29 May 2024 - African swine fever (ASF) continues to spread in Europe and other parts of the world. Food also plays a role. If unheated feed or leftovers from infected animals are fed to uninfected animals, the virus can spread to previously ASF-free regions and thus to domestic pig herds. As the virus is stable in the environment, it has long been assumed that it can also be transmitted via feed, water and other materials. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) initiated an international research project on this issue, in which the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) and the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) also participated. The results show that the spread of ASF viruses via animal feed is only to be expected in exceptional cases. Even after adding large amounts of the infectious virus to various feed and bedding materials, no infectious virus was detectable after a short time,' says project coordinator Dr Sandra Blome of the FLI. 'Only in cold-stored fodder beet and potatoes was infectious virus still found in some samples, even after a longer storage period.' 'This is probably due to the fact that ASF viruses are particularly stable in cold and humid environments. In principle, ASF viruses are not transmissible to humans,' explains BfR President Professor Andreas Hensel. However, with this project we are closing an important knowledge gap regarding the role of feed in the transmissibility of the ASF virus.