Understanding the vitamin supply chain and relative risk of transmission of foreign animal diseases

The U.S. pork industry is dependent on vitamins manufactured in China because there are limited, and in some cases, there are no other country of origin options to meet industry volume demands. Initial studies have provided evidence that the African Swine Fever virus (ASFv) can survive in choline chloride, but not vitamin D3. However, it is unknown if this virus can survive in other vitamins. The risk of ASFv or other Foreign Animal Diseases (FAD) being introduced from China into the U.S. through vitamin imports appears to be low, but the impact of introduction is high. Vitamin manufacturing involves many highly technical chemical or fermentation processes that utilize commonly accepted quality control certification schemes and sanitary processes to meet human food grade, and often pharmaceutical standards in the U.S. and E.U. Although gelatin used in manufacturing vitamin A and D3 originates from pigskin, there appears to be sufficient thermal treatments used in extracting, concentrating, and sterilizing gelatin to inactivate pathogens. Some vitamin suppliers visit and audit corn cob suppliers for choline chloride production to verify that there is a killing step in corn cob carrier production. Only clean, unused, sealed containers and materials (e.g. pallets) are used for packaging and transporting vitamins to the U.S., usually under hazardous materials shipping standards due to high purity. All damaged containers and packages containing vitamins during transport are destroyed and not used in manufacturing swine feeds. Once purified vitamins arrive in the U.S., they are distributed to U.S. vitamin premix manufacturers for blending with carriers. Only carriers produced in North America are used by the U.S. vitamin premix manufacturers to minimize the risk of cross-contamination. However, there are a few unconventional brokers and traders that may import vitamins from China and market them using limited if any biosecurity and quality assurance control procedures. Obtaining vitamins and premixes from these entities increases the risk of ASFv introduction. Pork producers are responsible for selecting reputable suppliers of all feed ingredients by asking appropriate questions to avoid potential suppliers that do not follow standards of feed safety. Vitamins are unique compared to other feed ingredients because they are sensitive to high heat treatment and pH, which can substantially reduce their nutritional value if these types of virus mitigation treatments are applied.Swine Health Information Center, Ames, I

Solid-state fermentation of Pleurotus ostreatus to improve the nutritional profile of mechanically-fractionated canola meal

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Risk assessment of feed ingredients of porcine origin as vehicles for transmission of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV)

The objective of this project was to assess the likelihood that feed ingredients of porcine origin may function as vehicles of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDV) transmission via feed. The scope of the assessment included rendered ingredients, ingredients derived through spray drying porcine blood, and ingredients derived by hydrolyzing porcine tissues. For any feed ingredient, the risk of the release of infective PEDV is a function of: (1) the concentration of PEDV in the raw materials; (2) the virus survival after ingredient processing (3) the survival of virus during post-processing storage and distribution; and 4) the likelihood of post-processing contamination incorporating PEDV into the finished ingredient. No data on PEDV contamination of raw materials were available for the rendering and hydrolyzed protein sources. Estimates of PEDV contamination of liquid plasma were available from industry, based on PCR testing of ingredients over time, and were used in quantitative modeling. The assessments made in this project were constrained by a paucity of specific data on several aspects that are germane to the risk of PEDV transmission in feed ingredients of porcine origin. Available data on thermal inactivation of PEDV indicate that risk of virus surviving the processes of rendering and hydrolysis (peptone production) are negligible. The time and temperature profiles used in spray-drying are much less severe, and therefore, the possibility of virus survival is inherently greater if non-thermal mechanisms are ignored. Overall, currently available data indicate that probability of PEDV surviving the spray-drying process and current commercial storage periods is extremely small. In the course of the project, several data gaps were identified that contributed to the uncertainty. Risk assessment is an iterative process and the findings of this report may be revised in the future if new knowledge becomes available.National Pork Board, Des Moines, I

African Swine Fever-Vitamin Supply Chain Workshop Notes

An African swine fever-vitamin meal supply chain workshop involving key industry stakeholders was conducted on April 26, 2019 on the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus. Several vitamins are produced exclusively in China, while others are also primarily produced in China by a few manufacturers. Likewise, most vitamin manufacturers produce human and animal grade vitamins using the same quality assurance and controls that meet human grade standards. Most meeting participants consider the risk of ASF introduction from vitamins to be low but recognize that, if contaminated, vitamins can be a vehicle for virus introduction in the U.S. Several research and development priorities were identified including 1) develop a surrogate for ASF virus for monitoring processes that can inactivate the virus if it was present, 2) develop third party biosecurity modules and audits that can be implemented for feed ingredient manufacturers, 3) conduct a risk assessment of virus transmission throughout the vitamin supply chain, and 4) explore the use of blockchain technology for greater transparency and trust in the vitamin supply chain. Several education and communication priorities were also identified. A clear, transparent, and unified message is needed to educate the feed and pork industry to decrease confusion and suspicion of the perceived risks of virus transmission in the vitamin supply chain. Key components of this story include: 1) what is known about ASF virus characteristics, survival, and inactivation, 2) general description of raw materials, chemical and fermentation processes used to produce various vitamins, 3) current quality assurance programs, 4) packaging and transport, 5) potential for cross contamination from other porcine derived feed ingredients in multi-species feed mills, 6) approved sources vs. brokers and traders, and 7) holding times, origin of carriers, and premix manufacturing processes used before delivery to feed mills and commercial swine farms. Vitamin suppliers have industry wide standards for ingredient safety that minimize the opportunity for virus introduction. However, pork producers are responsible for knowing their suppliers and asking the right questions to screen potential suppliers that do not follow standards of safety. A comprehensive description of the entire vitamin supply chain is needed and a unified, accurate, and consistent message to the pork industry.Swine Health Information Center, Ames, I

Guidelines for developing a risk-based plan to mitigate virus transmission from imported feed ingredients

There is increasing concern regarding the risk of swine disease transmission via feed ingredients, whether imported or domestically produced. This risk may be reduced in the feed ingredient supply chain by identifying and implementing preventive controls (supply chain, sanitation, transportation, and process) at different steps of the chain. The objective of this study was to develop a practical guide to help feed ingredient suppliers and buyers to safely manufacture, package, transport, and use feed ingredients in swine feeding programs. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) provides the basis of this study because these regulations require proactive risk-based preventive control processes that are applied in the food supply chain to prevent or reduce the risk of hazards from being present in the final product. Using this conceptual framework, implementation of preventive controls in the feed production chain can control or decrease the potential introduction of foreign animal viruses through feed ingredients into the U.S. A decision tree was developed as a first step in identifying preventive controls and potential high-risk feed ingredient sourcing scenarios. A case-study using Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDV) and the corresponding decision tree was developed as an illustration on how to use this new approach. Although this approach is based on swine viral diseases, it can serve as a template for other pathogenic viruses and species.Swine Health Information Center, Ames, I

Survival of a surrogate African swine fever virus-like algal virus in feed matrices using a 23-day commercial United States truck transport model

African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a member of the nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs) and is stable in a variety of environments, including animal feed ingredients as shown in previous laboratory experiments and simulations. virus (EhV) is another member of the NCLDVs, which has a restricted host range limited to a species of marine algae called . This algal NCLDV has many similar morphological and physical characteristics to ASFV thereby making it a safe surrogate, with results that are applicable to ASFV and suitable for use in real-world experiments. Here we inoculated conventional soybean meal (SBMC), organic soybean meal (SBMO), and swine complete feed ( ) matrices with EhV strain 86 (EhV-86) at a concentration of 6.6 × 10 virus g , and then transported these samples in the trailer of a commercial transport vehicle for 23 days across 10,183 km covering 29 states in various regions of the United States. Upon return, samples were evaluated for virus presence and viability using a previously validated viability qPCR (V-qPCR) method. Results showed that EhV-86 was detected in all matrices and no degradation in EhV-86 viability was observed after the 23-day transportation event. Additionally, sampling sensitivity (we recorded unexpected increases, as high as 49% in one matrix, when virus was recovered at the end of the sampling period) rather than virus degradation best explains the variation of virus quantity observed after the 23-day transport simulation. These results demonstrate for the first time that ASFV-like NCLDVs can retain viability in swine feed matrices during long-term transport across the continental United States

Digestibility of dietary fiber by growing pigs

ABSTRACT: In vivo digestibility and in vitro digestibility experiments were used to study effects of feeding distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and other high fiber ingredients to growing pigs. The objective of Exp. 1 was to measure the effects on digestibility of AA, energy, and fiber of adding 30% DDGS to a corn soybean meal diet and to measure intestinal transit time. Growing pigs were cannulated at the terminal ileum and in the cecum. Results showed that apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of Lys (74.1%) was reduced (P < 0.05) in the diet with 30% DDGS compared with the control diet (78.6%). However, the AID of most other AA was not affected by the inclusion of DDGS. The AID and the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of energy and TDF were lower in the diet with 30% DDGS (81.0 and 55.5%) than in the control diet (86.0 and 60.0%), but that reduction could not be explained by changes in gut transit time, or by changes in concentration of volatile fatty acids (VFA) in ileal, cecal, or fecal matter. The objective of Exp. 2 was to measure the AID and ATTD of total dietary fiber (TDF) in 24 sources of corn DDGS (C-DDGS), sorghum DDGS (S-DDGS) and a blend of corn and sorghum DDGS (SC-DDGS). We observed that, on average, the ATTD of TDF was 47.3%, but it ranged from 29.3 to 57.0%. The ATTD of TDF was correlated (r2) to the ATTD of crude fiber (0.42), NDF (0.90), and IDF (0.79), but it was not correlated to ATTD of SDF (0.25) or carbohydrates (0.21). These data suggest that the ATTD of TDF needs to be improved to increase utilization of fiber from DDGS as a source of dietary energy. Therefore, in Exp. 3, the effect of the type of dietary fiber and the breed of pigs were studied. Five light Yorkshire pigs (BW: 80.1 ?? 11.2 kg; 4 mo old), 5 heavy Yorkshire pigs (BW: 102.1 ?? 3.5 kg; 4 mo old), and 5 Meishan pigs (BW: 77.2 ??15.2 kg; 5 mo old) were cannulated in the distal ileum and fed 5 diets with increasing concentration of soluble dietary fiber (SDF). When fed the corn soybean meal diet (SDF = 0%), Meishan pigs, had a greater (P < 0.05) ATTD of DM, GE, and carbohydrates (89.2, 89.5, 95.5%) than light (86.6, 86.6, and 92.4%) and heavy (87.0, 86.5, and 93.0%) Yorkshire pigs. The ATTD of TDF was greater (P < 0.05) in Meishan pigs fed DDGS (75.3%) than in light (39.0%) and heavy (55.7%) Yorkshire pigs. The ATTD of TDF (P < 0.05) in DDGS was also greater (P < 0.05) in heavy than in light Yorkshire pigs. However, the ATTD of TDF was not different among the 3 groups of pigs when fed sugar beet pulp, soybean hulls, and pectin. These results indicate that the ATTD of TDF is greater in Meishan than in Yorkshire pigs in feed ingredients with high concentration of IDF, but in ingredients containing more SDF, no differences were observed. Because, ATTD of GE is dependent on the ATTD of TDF and because in vivo digestibility experiments are expensive and time consuming, it is advantageous to develop procedures to measure digestibility of fiber in vitro. The objective of Exp. 4 was, therefore, to modify the 3 step in vitro digestibility of OM to measure the in vitro ATTD of NDF in a subset of samples that was analyzed in Exp. 2. Results indicate that in vitro AID (28.5%) and in vitro ATTD (37.5%) of NDF were lower than the in vivo AID (45.9%) and ATTD (59.3%) values observed in Exp. 2. There were some agreements between values obtained using both procedures. In DDG, the AID and ATTD of DM (30.1 and 42.5%) and NDF (-19.2 and 17.5%) were lower (P < 0.01) than in any source of DDGS and this pattern also was observed in Exp. 2. However, the relationships were not strong enough (R2 = 0.12) to predict in vivo ATTD of NDF. In conclusion, dietary fiber from DDGS has an intermediate digestibility and does not affect digestibility of the other nutrients in the diet. The ability of pigs to digest fiber varies with age and breed and there are interactions with the type of fiber. A procedure that measures digestibility of fiber is, therefore, necessary

Too Much of a Good Thing: Rethinking Feed Formulation and Feeding Practices for Zinc in Swine Diets to Achieve One Health and Environmental Sustainability

The objectives of this review were to summarize current knowledge of Zn in swine nutrition, environmental concerns, potential contribution to antimicrobial resistance, and explore the use of alternative feeding strategies to reduce Zn excretion in manure while capturing improvements in productivity. Zinc is a required nutrient for pigs but is commonly supplemented at concentrations that greatly exceed estimated requirements. Feeding pharmacological concentrations of Zn from ZnO to pigs for 1 to 2 weeks post-weaning reduces post-weaning diarrhea and improves growth performance. Feeding elevated dietary levels of Zn to sows during the last 30 days of gestation can reduce the incidence of low-birth-weight pigs and pre-weaning mortality. Most of the dietary Zn consumed by pigs is not retained in the body and is subsequently excreted in manure, which led several countries to impose regulations restricting dietary Zn concentrations to reduce environmental impacts. Although restricting Zn supplementation in swine diets is a reasonable approach for reducing environmental pollution, it does not allow capturing health and productivity benefits from strategic use of elevated dietary Zn concentrations. Therefore, we propose feeding strategies that allow strategic use of high dietary concentrations of Zn while also reducing Zn excretion in manure compared with current feeding practices

Fecal Hyodeoxycholic Acid Is Correlated With Tylosin-Induced Microbiome Changes in Growing Pigs

The changes in the gut microbiome play an important role in the promoting effects of antibiotics, such as tylosin, to the health, and productivity of farm animals. Microbial metabolites are expected to be key mediators between antibiotics-induced microbiome changes and growth-promoting effects. The objective of this study was to extend the identification of tylosin-responsive microbes to the identification of tylosin-responsive metabolites in growing pigs. The feeding trial was conducted on a commercial farm using two pens of pigs fed diets with and without tylosin (40 mg/kg of diet). Fecal samples were collected from 10 pigs per pen at weeks 10, 13, 16, 19, and 22 of age, and subsequently analyzed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis. The multivariate model of LC-MS data showed that time-dependent changes occurred in the fecal metabolome of both control and tylosin-treated pigs. More importantly, the metabolomic profiles were similar between the tylosin treatment and control groups in weeks 10 and 22, but diverged during weeks 13–19. Subsequent analyses of the fecal metabolites contributing to the separation of two groups of pigs showed that hyodeoxycholic acid (HDCA), together with tylosin and its metabolites in feces, was greatly increased during weeks 13–19 (P &lt; 0.05) in the group of pigs fed tylosin. The integration of current metabolomics data and the microbiome data from a previous study revealed the consistency between HDCA and a specific genus of microbes in the Clostridia family. Further studies are required to determine the causative relations between tylosin-elicited changes in HDCA and the microbiome as well as the role of HDCA in the growth promoting effects of tylosin