Clostridium perfringens type C induced necrotizing enteritis (NE) causes high mortality in newborn piglets. Immunization programs employing commercially available vaccines are used to prevent disease. Sows are va...
Authors: Olivia K. Richard, Alexander Grahofer, Heiko Nathues and Horst Posthaus
This was an observational study that prospectively followed 29 breeding herds for 65 weeks in the U.S.A. that became infected with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSv). The herds operate...
Authors: Giovani Trevisan, Eva Jablonski, Jose Angulo, Will A. Lopez and Daniel C. L. Linhares
Pig performance and risk of disease are associated with production flow. Given the link between health and welfare, it is likely that animal welfare indicators are also associated with production flow. This st...
Authors: Alessia Diana, Laura Ann Boyle, Edgar García Manzanilla, Finola Catherine Leonard and Julia Adriana Calderón Díaz
Lameness, low BCS and scar tissue in the skin covering the tuber spina scapulae are known as risk factors for shoulder ulcer in sows. In a two-step study, the predictive ability of pre-farrowing clinical exami...
Authors: Daniel Meyer, Charlotte Vogel, Lothar Kreienbrock and Elisabeth große Beilage
Our objectives were 1) to compare reproductive performance across parities and lifetime performance of parity 1 sows in six weaning-to-first-mating interval groups (WMI 0–3, 4, 5, 6, 7–20 and 21 days or more),...
Authors: Yu Yatabe, Ryosuke Iida, Carlos Piñeiro and Yuzo Koketsu
The conventional farrowing crate is criticised due to the limited mobility of sows during farrowing and lactation. The present study aims to investigate the effects of three different farrowing systems on the ...
Authors: Sandra Schnier, Lea Middendorf, Heiko Janssen, Carla Brüning, Karl Rohn and Christian Visscher
To mitigate production impact of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus outbreaks, it has been common to preventively vaccinate swine breeding herds using PRRS modified live virus (MLV) vac...
Authors: Cesar A. A. Moura, Clayton Johnson, Samuel R. Baker, Derald J. Holtkamp, Chong Wang and Daniel C. L. Linhares
The main objectives of this observational, cross-sectional study were to characterize piglet producing farms in Finland and to investigate how farm profiles are associated with sow culling and mortality.
Authors: Paula Bergman, Camilla Munsterhjelm, Anna-Maija Virtala, Olli Peltoniemi, Anna Valros and Mari Heinonen
In the field, vaccination schedules based on modified-live virus (MLV) vaccines administered twice in gilts and every three to four months in sows are commonly used to immunize breeding herds against porcine repr...
Authors: Almudena Sánchez-Matamoros, Agustí Camprodon, Jaime Maldonado, Rafael Pedrazuela and Joel Miranda
Control of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) represents a tremendous challenge. The trend is now toward managing the disease collectively. In Quebec, area and regional control and eliminatio...
Authors: Marie-Ève Lambert, Pascal Audet, Benjamin Delisle, Julie Arsenault and Sylvie D’Allaire
Biosecurity is one of the main factors affecting disease occurrence and antimicrobial use, and it is associated with performance in pig production. However, the importance of specific measures could vary depen...
Authors: Maria Rodrigues da Costa, Josep Gasa, Julia Adriana Calderón Díaz, Merel Postma, Jeroen Dewulf, Gerard McCutcheon and Edgar Garcia Manzanilla
In the last decade, the growth of the pig-farming industry has led to an increase in antibiotic use, including several used in human medicine, e.g. (fluoro)quinolones. Data from several studies suggest that th...
Authors: Patrick Kindle, Katrin Zurfluh, Magdalena Nüesch-Inderbinen, Sereina von Ah, Xaver Sidler, Roger Stephan and Dolf Kümmerlen
Defining shedding and exposure status for PRRSV is essential in herd stabilisation protocols and weaning-age pigs is a key subpopulation. Oral fluid (OF) sampling is a welfare-friendly and cost saving promisin...
Authors: Arnaud Lebret, Gwenaël Boulbria, Pauline Berton, Pierre-Yves Moalic, Jean Le Guennec, Franck Bouchet, Vincent Auvigne and Valérie Normand
Primiparous sows (PP) have higher nutrient requirements, fewer piglets born with lower birth weight and growth performance than multiparous sows (MP). The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect...
Authors: Carlos Piñeiro, Alberto Manso, Edgar G. Manzanilla and Joaquin Morales
Piglet diarrhoea is considered a worldwide problem resulting in animal welfare problems and financial losses for pig farmers. Porcine rotavirus and the coccidian parasite Cystoisospora suis (C. suis) are consider...
Authors: Emelie Pettersson, Sanna Hestad, Ivo Möttus, Eva Skiöldebrand and Per Wallgren
The development of the innate and adaptive immune responses to Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) after vaccination of 1 day-old pigs with a PRRSV-1 based modified live virus (MLV) vaccin...
Authors: Monica Balasch, Maria Fort, Lucas P. Taylor, Ivan Díaz, Enric Mateu and Jay G. Calvert
Shoulder ulcers in breeding sows that are restricted to the superficial skin layers, epidermis and dermis are usually classified as insubstantial animal welfare-related lesions. These less-severe lesions need ...
Authors: Daniel Meyer, Marion Hewicker-Trautwein, Maria Hartmann, Lothar Kreienbrock and Elisabeth grosse Beilage
Pigs infected by porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) are affected by severe diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration. The severity of clinical signs depends on the virus strain. Two genetically different PEDV str...
Authors: S. Gallien, V. Catinot, N. Pozzi, M. Berri, E. Authié, N. Rose and B. Grasland
In 2007 African swine fever (ASF) arrived at a Black Sea harbour in Georgia and in 2014 the infection reached the European Union (EU), where it still expands its territory. ASF is a fatal viral disease affecti...
Authors: Erika Chenais, Klaus Depner, Vittorio Guberti, Klaas Dietze, Arvo Viltrop and Karl Ståhl
The diagnostic performance of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) IgG and IgA ELISAs was evaluated using paired serum and meat juice samples collected from PEDV-negative (n = 50) and PEDV-inoculated pigs (n = ...
Authors: Korakrit Poonsuk, Ting-Yu Cheng, Ju Ji, Jeffrey Zimmerman and Luis Giménez-Lirola
Antimicrobial usage in food producing animals is of major concern. A clear link between the extent of use and the development of antimicrobial resistance has already been demonstrated. To evaluate strategies t...
Authors: S. Raasch, M. Postma, J. Dewulf, K. D. C. Stärk and E. grosse Beilage
In practice, field evaluation of vaccine efficacy in individual herds is often based on a historical comparison of productivity data following initiation of vaccination. Being biased by time, this study design...
Authors: Gitte Blach Nielsen, John Haugegaard and Rika Jolie
Acquisition of knowledge and skills by agriculture students prior to real-life experience is a well-known educational challenge. Game-based learning has the advantage of being active, experiential, and problem...
Authors: Karl Johan Møller Klit, Ken Steen Pedersen and Helle Stege
European legislation dictates that pig tail docking is not allowed to be performed routinely (European Union. Council Directive 2008/120/EC of 18 December 2008 laying down minimum standards for the protection ...
Authors: Nancy De Briyne, Charlotte Berg, Thomas Blaha, Andreas Palzer and Déborah Temple
The objective of the study was to evaluate the influence of maternally derived antibodies (MDA) on the efficacy of a PRRSV-1 based attenuated vaccine, when administered in 1 day-old piglets by the intramuscula...
Authors: Monica Balasch, Maria Fort, Lucas P. Taylor and Jay G. Calvert
The most prevalent Fusarium mycotoxin in grains is deoxynivalenol (DON). Contamination of swine feed with DON can result in reduced consumption and poor growth performance. Gestating and lactating sows need suffi...
Enrichment materials for pigs, particularly organic materials, are becoming increasingly important in order to reduce abnormal behaviour such as tail biting. However, potential health risks posed by these mate...
Authors: Krista Marie Wagner, Jochen Schulz and Nicole Kemper
Due to the risk of spreading epizootic diseases through rodents, pest control is mandatory in pig farming in European countries. However, there is limited research focused on rodent control practices, usage of...
Authors: Odile C. Hecker, Marc Boelhauve and Marcus Mergenthaler
Cystoisospora suis is the causative agent of porcine neonatal coccidiosis, a diarrheal disease which affects suckling piglets in the first weeks of life. Detection of oocysts in the faeces of infected animals is ...
Authors: Anja Joachim, Bärbel Ruttkowski and Daniel Sperling
The mycotoxin zearalenone (ZEN) causes functional and morphological alterations in reproductive organs of pigs. In the field, diagnosis of ZEN-induced disorders is often challenging, as relevant feed lots are ...
Authors: Isabel Hennig-Pauka, Franz-Josef Koch, Simone Schaumberger, Bettina Woechtl, Johannes Novak, Michael Sulyok and Veronika Nagl
Many factors can influence the occurrence of neonatal diarrhoea in piglets. Currently, well-known pathogens such as enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens type C appear to play a minor role ...
Authors: Hanne Kongsted, Karl Pedersen, Charlotte Kristiane Hjulsager, Lars Erik Larsen, Ken Steen Pedersen, Sven Erik Jorsal and Poul Bækbo
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) causes respiratory distress in pigs, reproductive failure in breeding-age gilts and sows, and can have devastating economic consequences in domestic herds. ...
Authors: Jeremy Kroll, Michael Piontkowski, Christian Kraft, Teresa Coll and Oliver Gomez-Duran
Most studies carried out to evaluate recovery and development after porcine oocyte vitrification, reported better rates when cryopreserved in embryonic development stages or zygotes, but not in immature oocyte...
Authors: Fahiel Casillas, Miguel Betancourt, Cristina Cuello, Yvonne Ducolomb, Alma López, Lizbeth Juárez-Rojas and Socorro Retana-Márquez
A randomised field trial was conducted on an Austrian farrow-to-finish farm for one year to compare the efficacy of two commercial Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae vaccines. 585 piglets either received the one-shot formu...
Authors: Vojislav Cvjetković, Sabine Sipos, Imre Szabó and Wolfgang Sipos
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of piglet morphometric characteristics and starter regime on postnatal growth. Some piglets born light are able to grow faster than others, and identifying whi...
Authors: A. M. S. Huting, P. Sakkas, I. Wellock, K. Almond and I. Kyriazakis
Our objective was to examine the impact of farm effects and sow potential on various aspects of sow performance. We examined the interaction between sow prolificacy groups categorized at parity 1 and farm prod...
Authors: Satomi Tani, Carlos Piñeiro and Yuzo Koketsu
The aim was to test two strategies to improve the growth rate of the slow-growth pigs and to increase the batch’s homogeneity at slaughter. In Trial 1 a total of 264 weaned piglets were distributed into 24 pen...
Authors: Sergi López-Vergé, Josep Gasa, Déborah Temple, Jordi Bonet, Jaume Coma and David Solà-Oriol
Porcine pleuropneumonia, caused by Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, is a bacterial respiratory disease of swine. Acute outbreaks of the disease are often accompanied by high mortality and economic losses. As seve...
Authors: Doris Hoeltig, Judith Rohde, Birgit Brunner, Klaus Hellmann, Erik Grandemange and Karl-Heinz Waldmann
A dedicated program to monitor for freedom of several economically important diseases is present within most of the breeding companies that currently deliver high health breeding animals to their customers. Se...
Authors: Frédéric Vangroenweghe, Eveline Willems, Jiří Malášek, Olivier Thas and Dominiek Maes
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is widespread in commercial pig farms worldwide, and has a significant cost to the swine industry. Herd owners need a vaccine that will confer long-l...
Authors: Jeremy Kroll, Mike Piontkowski, Poul H. Rathkjen, Francois-Xavier Orveillon, Christian Kraft and Oliver G. Duran
Despite years of effort, the proportion of serologically Salmonella-conspicuous pig farms has not been significantly reduced. Incoming piglets are considered to be a significant source of Salmonella for feeder-to...
Authors: Anton Schulte zu Sundern, Carolin Holling, Karl Rohn, Josef Schulte-Wülwer, Ansgar Deermann and Christian Visscher
There has been a strong implication of both the French swine industry and the national authorities on reducing the use of antimicrobials in swine production since 2010. The annual monitoring of antimicrobial s...
Authors: Anne Hémonic, Claire Chauvin, Didier Delzescaux, Fabien Verliat and Isabelle Corrégé
Neonatal diarrhoea represents a major disease problem in the early stages of animal production, increasing significantly pre-weaning mortality and piglets weaned below the target weight. Enteric diseases in ne...
Authors: Susana Mesonero-Escuredo, Katrin Strutzberg-Minder, Carlos Casanovas and Joaquim Segalés
As no current data are available on the prevalence of leptospiral infection in swine in Germany, we analysed laboratory data from diagnostic examinations carried out on samples from swine all over Germany from...
Authors: Katrin Strutzberg-Minder, Astrid Tschentscher, Martin Beyerbach, Matthias Homuth and Lothar Kreienbrock
Growing and finishing performances of pigs strongly influence farm efficiency and profitability. The performances of the pigs rely on the herd health status and also on several non-infectious factors. Many rec...
Authors: C. Fablet, N. Rose, B. Grasland, N. Robert, E. Lewandowski and M. Gosselin
Infection with respiratory pathogens can influence production as well as animal welfare. There is an economical and ethical need to treat pigs that suffer from respiratory diseases. Our aim was the evaluation ...
Authors: Outi Hälli, Minna Haimi-Hakala, Tapio Laurila, Claudio Oliviero, Elina Viitasaari, Toomas Orro, Olli Peltoniemi, Mika Scheinin, Saija Sirén, Anna Valros and Mari Heinonen
The objectives of our study were 1) to characterize culling and retention patterns in parities 0 to 6 in served females and farrowed sows in two herd groups, and 2) to quantify the factors associated with by-p...
Authors: Satomi Tani, Carlos Piñeiro and Yuzo Koketsu
Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) diagnostics in live pigs often involves pooled serum and/or oral fluid samples for group-level determination of viral load by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (...
Authors: Gitte Blach Nielsen, Jens Peter Nielsen, John Haugegaard, Sanne Christiansen Leth, Lars E. Larsen, Charlotte Sonne Kristensen, Ken Steen Pedersen, Helle Stege, Charlotte K. Hjulsager and Hans Houe
A controlled randomized trial was performed on a well-managed conventional French 180-sow farm. The trial compared the growth performances of piglets vaccinated at weaning (single shot) either with a commercia...
Authors: Didier Duivon, Isabelle Corrégé, Anne Hémonic, Martial Rigaut, David Roudaut and Rika Jolie
The process of cleaning and disinfection of animal transport vehicles after unloading animals at the abattoir is a critical control point regarding proper hygiene. It is an important step regarding the biosecu...
