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Fight songs such as "The Victors" and "Notre Dame Victory March" have become part of the American music lexicon. Along with their sister songs, alma maters, they stir memories of carefree college days, elicit feelings of pride, and sometimes--especially fight songs--poke fun at athletic foes. They are the embodiment of tradition at U.S. colleges and universities. However, not all fight songs and alma maters are in perfect harmony with students, alumni, or the public. In recent years, some fight songs have devolved into fighting words, and alma maters have become lightning rods for controversy, demanding the time and attention of college and university alumni relations and public relations directors. Though no one plans for a controversy over a fight song or alma mater, having a crisis communications plan is essential for such circumstances. It helps leadership throughout the campus look at the issue from the eyes of how the media might interpret it.

The hypothesis that feed ingredients could serve as vehicles for the transport and transmission of viral pathogens was first validated under laboratory conditions. To bridge the gap from the laboratory to the field, this current project tested whether three significant viruses of swine could survive in feed ingredients during long-distance commercial transport across the continental US. One-metric tonne totes of soybean meal (organic and conventional) and complete feed were spiked with a 10 ml mixture of PRRSV 174, PEDV and SVA and transported for 23 days in a commercial semi-trailer truck, crossing 29 states, and 10,183 km. Samples were tested for the presence of viral RNA by PCR, and for viable virus in soy-based samples by swine bioassay and in complete feed samples by natural feeding. Viable PRRSV, PEDV and SVA were detected in both soy products and viable PEDV and SVA in complete feed. These results provide the first evidence that viral pathogens of pigs can survive in representative volumes of feed and feed ingredients during long-distance commercial transport across the continental United States., (© 2021 The Authors. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)