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New K-State study provides additional insight ASF detection

Research shows that African Swine Fever can survive several freeze/thaw cycles which could make it easier to enhance biosecurity and detection efforts.

Jordan Gebhardt, associate professor of swine production with Kansas State, says the virus can be stored or transported over longer periods of time. “If we’re in a very remote area, we don’t have rapid access to a diagnostic lab, we can still have a high degree of confidence in the result that’s generated even if we have to freeze that sample freeze down multiple times before it can be analyzed.”

The KSU study says ASF is still detectable in samples that were repeatedly frozen and stored at 4 degrees Celsius (39.2 degrees Fahrenheit), thawed and then frozen again.

Gebhardt tells Brownfield environmental sampling is a critical first step in detection. “If we go to a surface, it could be a tire of a truck. It could be a surface where there’s high foot traffic. It could be a variety of different surfaces and we take a sample from that surface and then we can process that sample and hope to answer whether or not ASF is on that surface or not.”

He says while ASF hasn’t been detected in the United States, this research provides another tool that could help prevent a widespread outbreak.

Jordan Gebhardt: