Research has confirmed that chemical treatments, such as medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) and commercial formaldehyde, can be effective to reduce the risk of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) cross-contamination in feed. However, the efficacy of MCFA levels below 2% inclusion is unknown. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate if a 1% inclusion of MCFA is as effective at PEDV mitigation as a 2% inclusion or formaldehyde in swine feed and spray-dried animal plasma (SDAP). Treatments were arranged in a 4 × 2 × 7 plus 2 factorial with 4 chemical treatments: 1) PEDV positive with no chemical treatment, 2) 0.325% commercial formaldehyde, 3) 1% MCFA, and 4) 2% MCFA. The 2 matrices were: 1) complete swine diet and 2) SDAP; with 7 analysis days: 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 42 post inoculation; and 1treatment each of PEDV negative untreated feed and plasma. Matrices were first chemically treated, then inoculated with PEDV, stored at room temperature until being analyzed by RT-qPCR. The analyzed values represent threshold cycle (CT), at which a higher CT value represents less detectable RNA. All main effects and interactions were significant (P < 0.009). Feed treated with MCFA, regardless of inclusion level, had fewer (P < 0.05) detectable viral particles than feed treated with formaldehyde. However, the SDAP-treated with either 1% or 2% MCFA had similar (P > 0.05) concentrations of detectable PEDV RNA as the untreated SDAP, while the SDAP treated with formaldehyde had fewer detectable viral particles (P < 0.05). The complete feed had a lower (P < 0.05) quantity of PEDV RNA than SDAP (39.5 vs. 35.0 for feed vs. SDAP, respectively) (P < 0.05). Analysis day also decreased (P < 0.05) the quantity of detectable viral particles from d 0 to 42, (33.2 vs. 44.0, respectively). In summary, time, formaldehyde, and MCFA all appear enhance RNA degradation of PEDV in swine feed and ingredients; however, their effectiveness varies within matrix. The 1% inclusion level of MCFA was as effective as 2% in complete feed, but neither were effective at reducing the magnitude of PEDV RNA in SDAP.
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