Introduction of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) into swine herds not only had a significant impact on animal health, but continues to be significant for pork producers and the feed manufacturing industry since it appears to be the first widely transmissible virus to cause disease via transmission in animal feed. Previous research has demonstrated that cross contamination of subsequent batches of feed can occur after PEDV contaminated feed is made. Feed batch sequencing is a proposed mitigation technique to decrease PEDV cross-contamination during feed manufacturing where negative feed is sequenced through the feed mill after potentially contaminated feed. This study aimed to investigate the infectivity of retained samples collected during a previously funded NPB study from samples collected after the mixer on sequence 3 and 4 following a batch of PEDV-inoculated feed. Additionally, the study aimed to investigate infectivity of sequenced feed treatments collected from batches after being transported through a bucket elevator feed conveyor. Additionally, fluid from swabs collected from the contaminated feed manufacturing surfaces were evaluated. Our results indicated that challenging pigs with feed from the mixer sequence 3, mixer sequence 4, and bucket elevator feed conveyor sequence 1 to sequence 4 did not result in PEDV infectivity. Furthermore, challenging pigs with dust collected from the conveyor surfaces did not result in PEDV infectivity. It is unknown if this lack of infectivity is due to insufficient replication, sampling and storage methodology, or a true effect; so the hypothesis that animal food-contact surface dust is infectious is still conceivable and remains to be proven
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