Long-term surrogate virus assays and methods

Abstract

A method for monitoring the viability of a megavirus in animal feed or an animal feed ingredient generally includes inoculating the animal feed or animal feed ingredient with a surrogate virus as a proxy for the megavirus, subjecting the animal feed or animal feed ingredient to a treatment that inactivates the megavirus and the surrogate virus, subjecting the animal feed or animal feed ingredient to storage or transportation conditions for at least 14 days, and determining the viability of the surrogate virus in the animal feed or animal feed ingredient, thereby monitoring the viability of the megavirus in the animal feed or animal feed ingredient. In one or more embodiments, the megavirus is African swine fever virus (ASFV) and the surrogate virus is an ASFV surrogate virus. In some of these embodiments, the ASFV surrogate virus is a Coccolithovirus such as, for example, Emiliania huxleyi virus.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.