An experimental infection to investigate the indirect transmission of classical swine fever virus by excretions of infected pigs

In this experiment transmission of classical swine fever (CSF) virus via excretions of infected pigs was investigated under experimental conditions. Five pairs of pigs were experimentally infected with CSF virus. Eight days after experimental infection, when all pigs were viraemic for at least 3 days, the pens were depopulated and 20 h later, restocked with five pairs of susceptible pigs which stayed in these pens for 35 days. During the first 3 weeks of the experiment, the pens were neither cleaned nor disinfected. During the observation period, none of the susceptible pigs became infected. This result indicates that CSF virus spread via excretions is of minor importance in the early stages of infection. For extrapolation of these findings to the field situation and to increase the validity of the conclusions further research is needed to evaluate the effect of factors like virus strain, interval, ..., that may influence the outcome of the experiment.