Spray-dried porcine plasma and PEDv

Posted on February 14, 2014 in Swine Performance
Koehler.Dean.2By Dr. Dean Koehler

As our industry continues to react to and manage the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) outbreak, we’ve received many questions regarding spray-dried porcine plasma (SDPP) and the potential for the virus to spread through this feed ingredient.  Following are answers to a few common questions we’ve received to help bring some clarity to the issue.  Please contact your Vita Plus consultant if you have additional questions.

What is SDPP?
Spray-dried porcine plasma is produced by isolating the plasma portion from whole pig blood and then spray-drying that plasma.

Does Vita Plus use SDPP in its swine products?
SDPP is not included in any Vita Plus-branded swine product.  In place of SDPP, Vita Plus nursery feeds contain betaGRO®, which is a further-processed, concentrated plasma product containing the isolated immunoglobulin portion of plasma.  The additional processing steps and quality control procedures used in the production of betaGRO ensure it is a much safer product than traditional dried blood plasma products.

How is betaGRO different?
Through betaGRO’s proprietary production process, incoming liquid plasma is processed to a degree that has been shown in published reports to inactivate many viruses, including PEDv.  Like other spray-dried feed ingredients, betaGRO is dried at inlet and outlet temperatures of 200 degrees C and 80 degrees C, respectively, which is believed sufficient to inactivate PEDv.

Could SDPP or betaGRO be contaminated with PEDv as a finished product?
In the production of SDPP, both raw and finished product may be present in the same facility.  SDPP generally receives no post-production treatment. In contrast, betaGRO is processed in a manner to ensure that raw plasma is never located at the same facility as dried processed product (these steps are located in different states).  As a final industry safeguard, betaGRO is irradiated after bagging at yet another location prior to warehousing.

Is either of these ingredients tested for PEDv?
SDPP is not routinely tested for PEDv.  However, each lot of betaGRO is confirmed to be free of PEDv.  All lots of betaGRO are assayed for the presence of PED genes using real-time PCR at the University of Minnesota.  No PEDv has ever been found in betaGRO.

What else should we know about Vita Plus’ commitment to biosecurity?
Contact iconOur goal is to provide you with safe and quality feed products.  In addition to our standard biosecurity protocols, we have enacted additional procedures in market areas where PEDv is known to be active.  Our goal is to minimize the potential of cross-contamination as much as possible.  Contact your Vita Plus consultant if you would like to learn more about these specific requirements.

About the author: 
Dr. Dean Koehler has served as swine technical services manager since joining Vita Plus in 2001.  He was raised in southwest Minnesota and was active in 4-H and FFA.  His youth livestock projects included raising and showing swine and sheep.  Koehler earned his bachelor’s degree in animal science and his master’s degree and Ph.D. in swine nutrition from the University of Minnesota.  His master’s research investigated the digestibility of raw soybean varieties naturally low in anti-nutritional factors when fed to growing pigs.  His doctorate research utilized a stable isotope of the amino acid lysine to measure how efficiently sows transfer dietary lysine into their milk.  Koehler is interested in all facets of swine nutrition.  His role at Vita Plus is to provide technical service to the field and supervise the development of support tools, such as technical bulletins and spreadsheets.  Additionally, he is the author the Vita Plus online grow-finish feed budgeting software, mentor.

Category: Animal health
Feed ingredients
Swine Performance