How Long Can the African Swine Fever Virus Survive
How long does the African swine fever virus survive? How do you kill the African swine fever virus? Recently, African swine fever outbreaks have spread to the southeastern and southwestern regions, spreading extremely fast. Although this virus has a mortality rate in pigs of nearly 100 percent, African swine fever does not infect humans; it only spreads among domestic pigs and wild boars, so there is no need to worry excessively.
How long does the African swine fever virus survive?
The African swine fever virus tolerates low temperatures and is sensitive to high temperatures, and its survival time differs under different temperature conditions. ASFV can survive for several weeks at 25-37 degrees C, for 70 minutes at 56 degrees C, for 20 minutes at 60 degrees C, for more than 1 year at 4 degrees C, and in frozen meat it can survive for as long as several years.
Moreover, this virus often resides in domestic pigs, wild boars (warthogs, African bush pigs) and soft ticks, and can cause transmission through multiple routes. “Any contact with infected pigs and their excrement, or with contaminated shoes, clothing and equipment on pig farms, can allow the virus to spread rapidly among domestic pigs and wild boars.
The main transmission cycles of ASFV are: wild boar-soft tick-domestic pig, domestic pig-domestic pig, wild boar-wild boar and wild boar-domestic pig, and the virus can persist within the different cycles.
The African swine fever virus is present in the body fluids, tissues, secretions and excrement of sick and dead pigs, and can contaminate feed, pens, fences, equipment and clothing. Healthy pig herds can become infected through the bites of virus-carrying blood-sucking insects such as soft ticks; through eating contaminated feed or swill, or contact with contaminated pens, fences, equipment and clothing; and also through contaminated air over short distances.
How do you kill the African swine fever virus?
Killed at 50 degrees C in 70 minutes
Killed at 60 degrees C in 20 minutes
8% caustic soda (NaOH) for 30 minutes
3% formalin for 30 minutes
Hypochlorite (2.3% available chlorine) for 30 minutes
3% orthophenylphenol for 30 minutes