Articles - Pig health

The ASF situation in Poland (19 cases and 2 outbreaks in 4 municipalities) seems to be very different from the countries east from Poland: it can be concluded that among wild boar in 4 municipalities the course of the disease is endemic rather than epidemic.

A lot of work needs to be done for controlling HP-PRRS completely. The implementation of proper regional control and eradication programs against PRRS is necessary in China and the Asian countries. Meanwhile, the increasing diversity of the PRRSV should be taken into consideration for developing more effective and safe vaccines.

In May 2013 a sow farm in Indiana (USA) broke with PEDv. In mid March 2014, scour were observed in the onsite nursery and finisher. In the subsequent week, PEDv was diagnosed of the same strain (99.9 % homology) and the virus moved into the farrowing house.

The main aspect that cannot be forgotten is the complete approach necessary to evaluate all possibilities. In that sense, samples have to be collected and tested to all possible agents that might cause diarrhea.

The benefit on antibiotic use is particularly clear when herds are multicontaminated by pathogenic virus and bacteria, allowing also to maintain animal welfare and operational productivity, but a good immunity against PCV2 is effective also in high health status herds.

The ideal sample for diagnostic of neonatal enteric pathogens is the submission of live piglets.

Finding an occasional pig with PCVAD within a large population is not unexpected since vaccination compliance is rarely 100%. How does one assess impact of PCVAD in a vaccinated population?

Estimated losses associated with M. hyopneumoniae alone and M. hyopneumoniae in combination with PRRSV were among the four health challenges with the highest estimated average loss for all pigs in the study population.

Well intentioned treatment of piglets at birth may adversely affect the normal early nasopharyngeal or tonsil colonisation making pigs vulnerable to respiratory infections due to potential pathogens present within the herd.

A comprehensive picture of viral variation at the beginning of control and elimination projects is critical for effective monitoring of progress and effectiveness of implementation procedures, and for identification of new virus introductions to farms and to the region.

It is a test that allows the verification of the carrying out and/or the quality of the vaccination in cases such as the entrance of piglets for their fattening.

In the future, the EU will have to define its swine salmonellosis reduction objectives for each country depending on their starting point.

Altering animal flow to insure exposure to PCV2 prior to breeding, as part of an acclimation program is necessary to minimize the risk of PCV2 associated reproductive disease.

Fertility problems with variable reproductive performances were detected. Also, ear and tail necroses appear in nurseries, and continuous diarrhoea cases and rectal prolapses in the fattenings.

There are still unknown factors that prevent or block PRRSV replication in the endometrium and the not sufficient number of susceptible cells in the placenta might join forces and cause resistance to placental/transplacental PRRSV infection before 90 days of gestation.

Cross-sectional sampling (different age groups during one herd visit) has the advantage that results are obtained quickly.

In this second part the actions described are the ones needed when the disease is already in the country.

In the last 4 batches of weaned piglets, the farmer saw around 3% of anorexic and lethargic piglets. All the treatments he tried failed (amoxicillin or florfenicol injections), and finally the piglets died.

ASF spreads mainly through the movement of infected pork and other animal products, as well as live animals, which includes wild boar.

Monitoring protocols in boar studs are often insufficient to timely detect an infection.

Four virus lineages, having clearly distinguishable HA, are currently co-circulating in European pigs and can be considered as enzootic viruses, even if their relative prevalence and level of incidence vary from one country to another.

After the clinical and serological evaluation it is decided to vaccinate against PRRSV, with which we achieve a gradual improvement in the health status on the farm. Some months later, a severe cough appears in the fattening pigs that later also appears in the nursery and in the sows.

The first cause of PCV vaccine failure is the purchase and use of generic vaccine of low quality and titre, but the exact cause of the failures can occur in various forms.

ASF is now firmly established in some areas of the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, where it is causing considerable trade disruptions, plus having a devastating impact on small-scale pig farmers.