Virkon^® S – farm biosecurity products

As part of our commitment to evolving chemistry, safety, and stewardship, we have heavily invested in performance and safety testing. And, Virkon^® S has a significant number of studies supporting approved label claims against the OIE listed diseases, including exotic Newcastle Disease (ND) and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), Classical Swine Fever (CSF), Aujeszky’s Disease (AD), Transmissible Gastroenteritis (TGE), and African Swine Fever (ASF). Virkon^® S is also UK DEFRA Approved for Poultry (DoP), Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), Swine Vesicular Disease (SVD), and General Orders (GO)* For Salmonella, studies confirm that Virkon^® S is highly active against the most prevalent strains responsible for food poisoning. The broad spectrum efficacy of Virkon^® S has been independently proven against:

• Over 100 strains of viruses in 22 viral families
• Over 400 strains of bacteria 
• Over 60 strains of fungi

 

*Virkon^® S is UK DEFRA Approved at the dilution rates of 1:225 for DoP and 1:80 for GO.

Formulated to overcome the problems of limited spectrum and limited activity exhibited by other disinfectants, Virkon^® S achieves deactivation and destruction of the target organism through a broad spectrum, non-selective range of oxidation reactions. Unlike other disinfectant chemistries, such as aldehydes, Virkon^® S does not exert a specific toxicological effect on the target organism and is proven to kill pathogens in seconds.

Proven on-farm efficacy offers producers reassurance and the knowledge that the product they are using will be effective in real farm conditions, where low temperatures and high levels of organic challenge can present serious problems to other disinfectants.

In field studies carried out by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, researchers confirmed that Virkon^® S was 100% effective in eradicating the exotic ND virus, eliminating the need for costly sentinel bird placement.¹

Live pig transport is an important vector of PRRS virus into farms and within pig flows. The Swine Disease Eradication Center, University of Minnesota, published important results aimed at helping producers reduce the risk of spreading highly infective PRRS virus by live animal transport.¹ In a study performed on a full-size pig trailer under practical constraints to match field conditions, the researchers selected 1% Virkon^® S as the study disinfectant due to its proven broad spectrum virucidal activity, including against PRRS virus. Their results were excellent, producing “good inactivation of PRRS virus within the target time when cold water was used and disinfection applied by foaming.” This work, coupled with the known broad spectrum of activity of Virkon^® S, confirmed that it is the disinfectant of choice for transport biosecurity. These wide-ranging, real-world biosecurity challenges demonstrate the broad spectrum proven efficacy of Virkon^® S against both viruses and bacteria. Virkon^® S has been proven time and again to meet the toughest biosecurity challenges better than any of its competitors and provides the key to combating the effects of viruses and bacteria in livestock production.

¹Use of sentinel chickens to evaluate the effectiveness of cleaning and disinfection procedures in non-commercial poultry operations infected with exotic Newcastle disease virus. Brian J McCluskey et al. J Vet Diagn Invest 18:296-299 (2006).

With the stringent EU legislation to control Salmonella and Campylobacter esp. in the meat production industry, biosecurity is even more important. Virkon^® S has been tested  to specifically address these needs. EN 1656 studies with Salmonella and Campylobacter confirmed the great performance and proof that Virkon^® S is highly effective at

• Short contact time and
• Low dilution rate.

Most common Salmonella strains responsible for food poisoning were tested: Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Salmonella Typhimurium Monofasic passing with a dilution rate of 0.5 % (1:200) or better in only 5 minutes. The test against Campylobacter jejuni even passed at 0.25 % (1:400) in 5 minutes under dirty conditions. Additionally, similar data for multiresistant bacteria, like  Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Salmonella Enteritidis (ESBL) are available. The last one was even tested at 1 minute.