Anti-Viral Properties of Formic Acid
Summary
- African Swine Fever (ASF) is an important economic disease and in most countries infections are notifiable by law to relevant authorities.
- First discovered in Africa in the early 1900's, ASF infects all breeds of pig, and impacts pork producing countries through severe mortality and bans on the export of pork products.
- Formic acid has been shown to be effective in inactivating certain types of virus, such as enveloped viruses, Avian Influenza and ASF (Juszkiewicz et al., 2019).
- Formic acid is a key active ingredient in Anpario's Acid Based Eubiotics (ABE).
Controlling the Spread of ASF
- ASF is highly contagious and can spread easily from infected pigs and wild boar to fomites, including equipment and feed materials.
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Using formic acid in high risk feed materials, such as animal by-products, has been shown to inactivate enveloped viruses within 24 hours (Vinnerås et al., 2012).
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Formic acid has also been shown to be effective in inactivating enveloped viruses such as ASF on fomites such as equipment (Juszkiewicz et al., 2019).
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Using one of Anpario’s ABE has been seen to be beneficial in reducing the transmission and virulence of viral infections in pigs.
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Cleaning pig areas, feed and water lines is a major control measure and here is where products containing formic acid can be helpful as they are registered for safe use in the animal.
Formic Acid as Part of an ASF Control Programme
- Prevention is, as always, more effective than a cure, especially in terms of ASF which has no vaccination or known cure and in most cases results in death of all pigs infected.
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As wild boar are the reservoir of the virus it is of paramount importance to ensure their exclusion from land where pigs, equipment, feed and feed bins and where the workforce reside as far as possible.
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Regular cleaning and a high level of biosecurity are the only ways to ensure ASF does not enter the unit.
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This anti-viral activity means that formic acid can be used as part of an effective hygiene programme.
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Anpario’s acid based eubiotics all contain formic acid for its antibacterial and anti-viral properties.
pHorce A is a highly concentrated blend of liquid acids and powder acid salts formulated on our innovative micropeal carrier system.
pHorce A can be added to any raw material or feed as a bacterial decontaminating agent to improve feed hygiene.
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