Learnings from previous foreign animal disease outbreaks – including PEDV seven years ago – have shifted our focus from diagnosis and treatment to prevention and control. Keeping pathogens at bay is the first step to an effective on-farm biosecurity program. An often-overlooked aspect in biosecurity planning, however, is the role feed and feed ingredients. Feed is a proven transmission route for diseases that are detrimental to animal health and welfare – and the producer's bottom line.
It has been, and will continue to be, Kemin’s mission as a global manufacturer of nutrition and health solutions to provide biosecurity and food safety tools that help protect our agricultural markets. Our Pathogen Control Team offers an array of products today, including Sal CURB® Liquid Antimicrobial, which maintains the Salmonella-negative status of complete feeds and feed ingredients for up to 21 days and controls mold in feeds or feed ingredients.
Sal CURB is a proven solution – backed by 25 years of research, efficacy and safety. However, we strive to continuously improve our offerings – and we are proud to have recently acquired a U.S. patent application indicating that Sal CURB can effectively inactivate African Swine Fever virus in animal feed and feed ingredients. Producers who evaluate the expanding portfolio of research regarding the survival of viral pathogens in animal feed, as well as the demonstrated efficacy of various products on the market today, may choose to use Sal CURB as part of their comprehensive feed biosecurity program.
Feed is only one piece of the emerging disease puzzle, however. We encourage producers to be vigilant – use best practices concerning biosecurity, feed and ingredient sourcing, animal care and handling and employee training. As an industry, we must continue to work toward the common goal of improved health, performance and wellbeing of animals – as well the production of safe and nutritional food for consumers.