Page 9 of articles about swine-diseases in Articles

The focus of swine production in the USA has changed over the last five years. Many businesses in the sector have made radical changes in management both from the reproductive and the sanitary point of view.

Porcine circovirus type 2 is a viral agent with a relatively simple structural organization of which there are two distinct genotypes (1 and 2), it is not clear if they have similar virulence. Since some years ago there has been a hypothesis developing that there exists an “agent X” that would play a role as a trigger factor of the disease in 100% of cases.

In this second part the direct routes (infected pigs and contaminated semen) and indirect routes (fomites and transportation vehicles) of PRRSV are tackled, as is the persistence of the virus because the persistence of the infection is a characteristic of PRRSV infections in pigs and plays a major role in the control and eradication of the disease.

Any factor that irritates or inflames the respiratory system will elicit the physiological response of either sneezing or coughing or both. Although alarming and indicative of disease, coughing is at least a sign that normal physiological responses are taking place and should not in isolation be necessarily seen as a bad thing. We may have sudden or generalized outbreaks of coughing as well as a constant coughing in pig groups. There are infectious pathogenic agents that are normally associated with coughing or laboured breathing in pigs such as Actinobacillus, Bordetella, Haemophilus, Pasteurella Streptococcus, Mycoplasma, SIV, PRRSV or PCV2.

Scott Dee, the prestigious American veterinarian who is known worldwide for his research on the PRRS virus, will be in charge of this section which is dedicated exclusively to the PRRS disease. Every month a new article will be published related to subjects such as etiology and clinical signs, transmission routes, diagnostic testing methods, biosecurity or control and eradication.