Destroying the avian influenza virus

ACREC Director Annel Greene is working with Dr. Thomas Scott of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Dr. William Bridges, Jr. of Experimental Statistics and Dr. Adam Leaphart of Clemson University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory to investigate the heat dosage required to destroy the avian influenza (AI) virus within rendering materials.

This study is aimed at ensuring the health and safety of humans and animals exposed to feeds in case of an outbreak of the deadly avian influenza virus. Using non-infective subparticles of the virus, the team studied different ways of detecting it within the high fat matrix.  Upon discovering methods of overcoming the interference of the high fat, the researchers can now detect the virus in the rendering materials. The researchers are conducting the final experiment to validate that rendering effectively destroys the AI virus.

This information will be crucial to the rendering industry in case of an AI outbreak and will be beneficial to regulatory agencies. In addition, publishing of the experimental data should help to mitigate rendering product market volatility in an AI crisis.

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