Effects of swab materals and transport media on Aujeszky's disease virus

The effect of swab materials on the recovery of Aujeszky's disease virus from various transport media held at 4°C was investigated over a five day period. No significant loss in infectivity was found in control preparations, approximately 50 per cent of infectivity was recovered from fluids containing applicator wire and approximately 10% from fluids containing polyester fibre or cotton wool. Virus recovery from fluids containing wooden applicator sticks ranged from no virus recovery in protein free media to from 1 to 10% in protein containing media. Freezing followed by thawing was the most effective of the physical methods used for eluting virus from swab materials.