Articles - Pig health

One of the greatest long-term potentials for genomic selection is to identify specific genes or genomic regions with a significant impact on pig health and to aid selection for disease resistance and/or disease tolerance.

Ileitis can take different forms, and it is frequent that a subclinical and a more severe and clinical form coincide.

In general terms, immunization through vaccination is the easiest and safest way to stabilize a herd.

It is believed that TTSuVs themselves do not directly cause any disease but they could potentiate coinfecting pathogens and participate as triggering factors for diseases like PCVDs and PRDC.

PRRSV by itself may induce mild-to-severe respiratory disease but rarely results in mortality.

PCV2 may reach embryos/foetuses upon transplacental spread during viremia or upon insemination with contaminated semen.

Knowledge of the dynamics of infection within the herd will allow implementation of better control strategies in affected herds.

This particular case occurred in a multisite farrow to finish operation in South Western Ontario, Canada.

Resolving the basis of viral and host variation will require identification and characterization of key B- and T-cell epitopes conserved among diverse PRRSV, and of the molecular and structural details of key effector antibodies, T-cell antigen receptors, and MHC molecules that mediate broad, cross-protective immunity.

Although a commensal, M. hyorhinis may cause serious systemic disease through mechanisms that are not fully understood.

It has been shown that the efficacy of PCV2 vaccines was dramatically decreased in the context of husbandry deviations such as excess of cross-fostering, mingling at weaning or very large groups in nursery.

One month after the beginning of the outbreak of reproductive failure in sows, acute respiratory disorder and diarrhoea that was non-responsive to antibiotics started in weaned pigs aged 6-8 weeks...

Control of outbreaks on problem farms in Asia remains an attempt to raise herd immunity by use of live virus feedback material. However, the current outbreaks have shown only transient herd immunity with these programs.

The role that wild birds can play in the spreading of this infection cannot be underrated.

Lameness is the second most common cause for the culling of sows.

The efficacy of PCV2 vaccines to control PCV2 associated diseases has been clearly demonstrated not only in piglets but also in sows. Moreover, it is also feasible to vaccinate sows and their offspring without hampering its growth during the rearing period.

The total cost of productivity losses to US producers is estimated at US$664 million annually but productivity losses are shifting from the growing pig herd to the sow herd.

There was a sudden increase in mortality in a site 2 farm with the loss of the "biggest piglets" in the group.No particular symptomatology was seen but every day some dead piglets were found.

The prevalence of pleurisy is surprisingly high among pigs at slaughter. A recent review of available data ranged from 12.5% in the UK, 26% in Spain, to 41% of individual pigs slaughtered in one Norwegian study.

Experimental Mhyo and PCV2 co-inoculations have resulted in somewhat divergent results.

A sudden death of animals, with no prior symptoms of disease, and clinical symptoms such as massive facial, ears and forechest oedema, as well as an increase of body temperature to 41.5ºC, were observed.

A cough outbreak appeared in 8-9 weeks old piglets. It apparently was a "normal" outbreak that could be solved with a few days of antibiotic but the pigs did not respond to the treatment.

PCV2 can be shed into semen by infected boars and research suggests that the virus can then be transmitted to gilts and sows by AI causing reproductive failure but there is no evidence that PCV2 in semen has effects on various characteristics of sperm cells.

This study demonstrates the added profitability that air filtration can give to sow farms located in highly dense swine regions. However, it is important to point out that these figures are long term averages and not necessarily predictors for individual herds.