Global pork production has largely adopted on-farm biosecurity to minimize vectors of disease transmission and protect swine health. Feed and ingredients were not originally thought to be substantial vectors, but recent incidents have demonstrated their ability to harbor disease. The objective of this paper is to review the potential role of swine feed as a disease vector and describe biosecurity measures that have been evaluated as a way of maintaining swine health. Recent research has demonstrated that viruses such as porcine epidemic diarrhea virus and African Swine Fever Virus can survive conditions of transboundary shipment in soybean meal, lysine, and complete feed, and contaminated feed can cause animal illness. Recent research has focused on potential methods of preventing feed-based pathogens from infecting pigs, including prevention of entry to the feed system, mitigation by thermal processing, or decontamination by chemical additives. Strategies have been designed to understand the spread of pathogens throughout the feed manufacturing environment, including potential batch-to-batch carryover, thus reducing transmission risk. In summary, the focus on feed biosecurity in recent years is warranted, but additional research is needed to further understand the risk and identify cost-effective approaches to maintain feed biosecurity as a way of protecting swine health.
Keywords: Biosecurity; PEDV; feed; pathogen; swine; virus.