Assessing the effects of medium-chain fatty acids and fat sources on PEDV infectivity.

The overall objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) to other common fat sources to minimize the risk of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) cross-contamination in a pig bioassay. Treatments were feed with mitigants inoculated with PEDV after application and were: 1) positive control with no chemical treatment; 2) 0.325% commercially available formaldehyde-based product; 3) 1% blend of 1:1:1 caproic (C6), caprylic (C8), and capric acids (C10) and applied with an aerosolizing nozzle; 4) treatment 3 applied directly into the mixer without an aerosolizing nozzle; 5) 0.

Molecular detection and characterization of transient bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infections in cattle commingled with ten BVDV persistently infected cattle.

Fifty-three cattle of unknown serologic status that were not persistently infected (PI) with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) were commingled with 10 cattle that were PI with different strains of BVDV, and were monitored for an extended commingle period using a reverse-transcription real-time PCR (RT-rtPCR) BVDV assay on various sample types. Transient infections with BVDV were also assessed by virus isolation, virus neutralization (VN) assays, and direct buffy coat 5'-UTR sequencing. Infections were demonstrated in all cattle by RT-rtPCR; however, the detection rate was dependent on the type of sample.

Characterizing the rapid spread of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) through an animal food manufacturing facility.

New regulatory and consumer demands highlight the importance of animal feed as a part of our national food safety system. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is the first viral pathogen confirmed to be widely transmissible in animal food. Because the potential for viral contamination in animal food is not well characterized, the objectives of this study were to 1) observe the magnitude of virus contamination in an animal food manufacturing facility, and 2) investigate a proposed method, feed sequencing, to decrease virus decontamination on animal food-contact surfaces.

Development of a novel real-time RT-PCR assay to detect Seneca Valley virus-1 associated with emerging cases of vesicular disease in pigs.

Seneca Valley virus 1 (SVV-1) can cause vesicular disease that is clinically indistinguishable from foot-and-mouth disease, vesicular stomatitis and swine vesicular disease. SVV-1-associated disease has been identified in pigs in several countries, namely USA, Canada, Brazil and China. Diagnostic tests are required to reliably detect this emerging virus, and this report describes the development and evaluation of a novel real-time (r) reverse-transcription (RT) PCR assay (rRT-PCR), targeting the viral polymerase gene (3D) of SVV-1.

Insight into octoploid strawberry (Fragaria) subgenome composition revealed by GISH analysis of pentaploid hybrids.

As the product of interspecific hybridization between its two ancestral octoploid (2n = 8x = 56) species (Fragaria chiloensis and F. virginiana), the cultivated strawberry (F. ×ananassa) is among the most genomically complex of crop plants, harboring subgenomic components derived from as many as four different diploid ancestors.