# Evaluating the Antiviral Activity of Termin-8 and Finio Against a Surrogate ASFV-like Algal Virus

## TL;DR

This study tested two chemicals, Termin-8 and Finio, to see how well they can reduce the viability of a virus similar to African swine fever virus.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into the time-dependent antiviral efficacy of Termin-8 and Finio against a surrogate ASFV-like virus.

## Key findings

- Finio achieved a >5 log10 reduction in viral viability at the lowest concentration after 7 days.
- Termin-8 showed a 2 log10 reduction at 1 hour but did not improve over time.
- Both chemicals effectively reduced viral viability, suggesting potential for mitigating ASFV transmission.

## Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the time-course of incubation for the potential preventative mitigation of megaviruses using Termin-8 (a formaldehyde-based product) and Finio (non-formaldehyde solution) from Anitox. Emiliania huxleyi virus (EhV), an algal surrogate for African swine fever virus (ASFV), was treated with the recommended concentrations of Termin-8 (0.1% to 0.3%) and Finio (0.05% to 0.2%), and both viability qPCR (V-qPCR) and standard PCR (S-qPCR) were used to quantify EhV concentrations at 1 h, 5 h, 24 h and day 7 post-inoculation. Overall, Finio, and to a lesser extent Termin-8, at their highest treatment concentrations, showed the greatest log reduction of 4.5 and 2 log10 units, respectively, at 1 h post-inoculation. Although Termin-8 efficacy did not improve with time, due to its fixing of viral particles and rendering them non-infectious, treatment with Finio showed 100% viable viral inactivation (>5 log10 reduction units) at the lowest concentration after 7 days of exposure. Our results demonstrate that both Termin-8 and Finio can be used as effective chemical mitigants against megaviruses such as EhV and ASFV and can be used as effective preventive or mitigation strategies to prevent the transmission of ASFV by reducing particle viability in contaminated feed, although additional research is warranted.