African swine fever: A review of cleaning and disinfection procedures in commercial pig holdings

Abstract

African swine fever (ASF) is one of the most important diseases in pigs. Since there are no effective vaccines against the virus, farm biosecurity and good farming practices are the only effective tools to prevent the spread of the ASF virus (ASFV) in pig holdings. Hence, an important component of farm biosecurity is the Cleaning and Disinfection (C&D) procedure. Precise indications regarding the ideal disinfectant against ASFV are lacking, but every country has approved and/or authorized a list of biocides effective against ASFV. Lipidic solvents, which destroy the envelope of the virus and commercial disinfectants based on iodine and phenolic compounds are effective in inactivating the ASFV. This review describes the C&D protocol to apply in pig holdings with particular reference to ASFV.

Keywords: ASF; African swine fever; Cleaning & disinfection; Pig holdings.