Abstract
This survey was conducted to estimate the incidence and level of potential viral contamination in commercially collected porcine plasma. Samples of spray dried porcine plasma (SDPP) were collected over a 12-month period from eight spray drying facilities in Spain, England, Northern Ireland, Brazil, Canada, and the United States. In this survey, viral load for several porcine pathogens including SVA, TGEV, PRRSV (EU and US strains), PEDV, PCV2, SIV, SDCoV and PPV were determined by qPCR. Regression of Ct on TCID50 of serial diluted stock solution of each virus allowed the estimate of potential viral level in SDPP and unprocessed liquid plasma (using typical solids content of commercially collected porcine plasma). In this survey SVA, TGEV or SDCoV were not detected in any of the SDPP samples. Brazil SDPP samples were free of PRRSV and PEDV. Samples of SDPP from North America primarily contained the PRRSV-US strain while the European samples contained the PRRSV-EU strain (except for one sample from each region containing a low estimated level of the alternative PRRSV strain). Estimated viral level tended to be low ranging from <1.0 log10 TCID50 to <2.5 log10 TCID50. Estimated level of SIV was the exception with a very low incidence rate but higher estimated viral load <3.9 log10 TCID50. In summary, the incidence of potential viral contamination in commercially collected porcine plasma was variable and estimated virus level in samples containing viral DNA/RNA was low.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have read the journal's policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: EB, CR, and JPolo are employed by APC Europe, S.L.U. Granollers, Spain and JC, LR and JPolo are employed by APC LLC, Ankeny, IA, USA. APC Europe and APC LLC manufactures and sells spray-dried animal plasma however, the companies did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. This does not alter the authors? adherence to all PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. JPujols, and JS declared no conflict of interest.