Following the recent discovery of the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) in Canada, and understanding that the primary method of transmission of this virus is fecal to oral, Ontario-based feed producer Grand Valley Fortifiers, with the assistance of South West Ontario Veterinary Services, announced Feb. 9 that it has "moved exclusively" to produce and sell nursery pig feeds that do not contain animal byproducts.
Grand Valley Fortifiers said it made its decision based on a statement from Dr. Steve Dritz of Kansas State University, however as Dritz stated in his team's recommendations, and reiterated to Feedstuffs in a followup call, the magnitude of risk that swine feed may be a potential vector for PEDV transmission is currently unknown.
Dritz said he and his team is encouraging swine producers to be knowlegable of their feed ingredients and to work with veterinarians and nutrition advisers in determining the best decisions for individual operations.
The K-State team also has provided example nursery diet options without porcine origin ingredients. These options range from removal of all porcine origin feed ingredients to removal of specific protein based ingredients from nursery diets.
Dritz provided a link to Kansas State information on reducing risks to PEDV from feed sources (http://www.asi.k-state.edu/species/swine/research-and-extension/PEDconcerns.html).
In response, member companies of the North American Spray Dried Blood & Plasma Producers (NASDBPP) issued a statement in which they stated that they are "committed to producing safe, high-quality blood products for use in feeds for commercial livestock and companion animals."
In 1994, NASDBPP said its member companies developed Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) to assure the proper sourcing, collecting and processing of animal blood and blood products to maintain safety. These GMPs provide multiple safeguards for the safety and quality of spray-dried blood and plasma products. NASDBPP members actively support continued research into the causes and control of this and other diseases.
NASDBPP further reported that based on current scientific evidence, it has been concluded that properly sourced, collected and processed porcine blood and porcine blood products are safe and do not contribute to the spread of PEDV.
“Envelope viruses, like PEDv, are inactivated by heat treatment and do not survive in dry environments,” said NASDBPP.
The NASDBPP statement, including scientific resources, is below.
Download file: NASDBPP Press Release revised 2-11-2014.pdf
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