June 17, 2022

 

Dr. Eckel's Anta^®Shield combats ASF transmission in feed

 

Dr. Eckel Animal Nutrition has introduced a new product that addresses the risk of African swine fever (ASF) transmission through feed.

 

The spread of the ASF virus poses a serious challenge to pig producers: an outbreak of the disease could result in major losses. So far, cases have been reported in 35 countries on five continents, and they are steadily increasing.

 

According to Dr. Eckel, transmission occurs in a variety of manners, through infected animals, facilities and equipment, production workers and swill feeding, among others. There is the possibility of transmission via the feed: the virus can survive in some animal feed types for up to 30 days and can be transmitted via mash and pelleted compound feed as well as certain feed additives. This constitutes a gap in the existing biosecurity measures that needs to be closed.

 

Anta^®Shield, The latest phytogenic innovation from Dr. Eckel Animal Nutrition has been developed specifically for this purpose.

 

Anta^®Shield contains bioactive ingredients from plants that have been cultivated for thousands of years for the very purpose of protecting food from pathogens.

 

Dr. Eckel vice president Dr. Bernhard Eckel explained: "We at Dr. Eckel have decades of experience with phytogenic active ingredients. Their antibacterial effect has been proven time and again. However, the hypothesis that they could also have antiviral properties is still relatively new.

 

"When developing Anta^®Shield, we focused on plant substances that destabilise the biomembranes of gram-positive bacteria. Our trials suggest that these substances may also affect the envelope glycoproteins of the ASF virus."

 

Each of the tested plant extracts showed greater efficacy than the organic acid treatment in the comparison group. However, the best effect was achieved with a specific combination of various extracts.

 

"It is only the synergetic effect of the selected active ingredients that produces the optimal result," said Dr. Bernhard Eckel.

 

For the trials, which were conducted in a special laboratory in Vietnam, pig feed was infected with the active virus. PCR assays were used to determine the viral load after one, three and seven days.

 

After three days, virtually no viral DNA could be detected. Moreover, cell culture tests showed that the virus' infectivity in the samples treated with Anta^®Shield was reduced by a hundredfold after 24 hours. In practical terms, this translates into a significant reduction in the risk of infection through feed.

 

Anta^®Shield has since been registered with the European Patent Office as a complex for reducing the concentration of the ASF virus in animal feed.

 

- Dr. Eckel