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Swine health
Pig diseases can be caused by bacteria, viruses, protozoa, nutritional deficiencies, poisonous substances, internal and external parasites.
Bacterial diseases include swine erysipelas, swine dysentery, infectious poly-arthritis etc. Viral and mycoplasma diseases include African swine fever, swine influenza, enzootic pneumonia of pigs, vesicular exanthema of swine, transmissible gastroenteritis etc. Helminthiasis as a health problem in pigs is mainly caused by worms like the lungworm, ascaris worm etc. Nutritional diseases include piglet anemia, parakeratosis etc. External parasitic infections include mange, lice, jiggers etc.
How to tell that a pig is in bad health:
General signs: dullness, loss of appetite, labored or rapid breathing, sudden deaths, loss of weight, low weight gain and fever usually manifested by shivering of the pig.
Signs expressed on the skin: reddening of the skin or skin discoloration, loss of hair and hardening of some parts of the skin, itching and cracking of the skin.
Other signs: lameness, cough, abnormal nasal discharges, diarrhea with a putrid smell, abnormal content and color of feces and abortions.
Modern animal production, optimal health is rooted in gut integrity. The gastrointestinal tract serves not only as the center for nutrient absorption but also as a critical regulator of immune function, neuroendocrine signaling, and overall physiological balance via the gut-brain axis. Any disruption within this system can result in widespread systemic impacts, affecting performance, disease resilience, and welfare outcomes. The most advanced feeding strategies and...
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1. Introduction to ASF and Current Disease Situation in Asia African swine fever virus (ASFV) genotype II, following its emergence and rapid spread in China in 2018, poses a critical threat due to its high fatality rate in infected pigs (domestic and wild). Since then, outbreaks in 19 countries within this region have been reported to the World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS) as of July 2024 (Figure 1). The social, health, and economic impacts on communities due to ASF...
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1. Introduction Influenza A virus (IAV) infections cause disease in multiple hosts, including humans, poultry and wild birds, but are also an important cause of respiratory tract infections in pigs [1,2]. Most swine IAV (IAVsw) infections are associated with relatively mild clinical signs, but infections can also result in severe disease and increased susceptibility to secondary infections within the porcine respiratory disease complex. Importantly, IAVsw strains pose a public health...
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Introduction: Mycoplasma hyorhinis is a common inhabitant of the upper respiratory tract and tonsils of pigs. Its role as a potential respiratory pathogen remains controversial. Information on the population structure of M. hyorhinis might help to get a clearer picture on specific strains in the pig population involved in clinical disorders. Using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) we therefore genetically characterized M. hyorhinis isolates from Swiss...
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Introduction: Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV), a member of the family Coronaviridae genus Alphacoronavirus is an enveloped, single – stranded RNA virus. PED was first reported in Europe in 1978. Since then outbreaks of PED infections have been reported in many countries including Europe and Asia. In America, the PEDV was first identified in USA in May 2013.The purpose of this study was to report the detection of PEDV in natural outbreaks in Colombian Swine...
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Introduction: PEDV emerged in the US during 2013 and rapidly spread from farm to farm causing high morbidity and mortality resulting in high economic losses to the US swine industry. As the virus made its way through swine dense populations there were many questions on degree and length of protection after initial exposure. The objective of this study was to determine if initial expose of a group of pigs to a PEDV genogroup 2 prototype strain induced homologous protection...
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Digestibility of amino acids in hydrolyzed feather meal, flash dried poultry protein, poultry meal, and meat and bone meal fed to broiler chickens and pigs
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Introduction: PRRSv is a primary pathogen causing PRDC. But PRRSv can be controlled by piglet vaccination. To get the best result, the interval between vaccination and infection should be 4 to 5 weeks. The purpose of this study is to obtain a PRRS noninfection period for 4 weeks after vaccination by partial depopulation of the nursery and to evaluate the efficacy of an additional PRRS vaccination of piglets to control PRRS for the whole production...
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Introduction: The interpretation of the ELISA or PCR results for PCV2 detection is often difficult. The aim of the study was to compare PCV2 seroconversion, viremia, shedding in feces and presence in oral fluid in three Polish farms. Materials and Methods: The serum, feces and oral fluid samples were obtained from two, two site farms with low level of biosecurity and hygiene (farm 1 and farm 2), and from one farrow-to-finish farm with very high...
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Lost in the Market Uncertainty Caused by the Outbreak
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Introduction: Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV2) is an important pathogen related to several disease syndromes in pigs, collectively named PCVD (PCV disease). PCV2 strains are currently classified into four genotypes: PCV2a, PCV2b, PCV2c and PCV2d. The latter is considered an emergent genotype. It has been, indeed, increasingly isolated worldwide, mainly in cases of suspected vaccine failure, rising concerns about vaccine protection and possible ongoing genetic...
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Introduction: Post Weaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS) was first identified in Canada in the mid-90’s. Since then, it evolved to the worst disease of modern swine industry as a complex of PCV2 diseases i.e. Porcine Circovirus (associated) Diseases (PCV(A)D). It is now present in all parts of the world. PMWS is characterized by a sudden wasting in weaners. Later PCVD is more often seen in the finishers and as a reproductive problem. The aim of the present paper is...
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Introduction: Little is known about oral fluid qPCR for PCV2, viral load and threshold values associated with clinical or sub-clinical disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of OF-based surveillance of PCV2 shedding on farms with or without clinical or subclinical PCVD. Materials and Methods: Shedding of PCV2 in OF was monitored at 2-weekly intervals in six wean-to-finish all-in-all-out farms. Sampling commenced at arrival (28...
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Introduction: PRRS is directly and indirectly an important risk factor for the Porcine Respiratory Disease Complex influencing finishing pig performance. A lot is known from controlled experimental studies. However, studies under practical circumstances about the influences of various pathogens on finishing pig performance are scarce. Materials and Methods: In total 815 pigs were individually followed from birth (December 2012-January 2013) until slaughter...
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Introduction: A porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) restriction fragment length polymorphism pattern of 1-7-4 emerged in North Carolina in 2014. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of PRRS 1-7-4 in previously positive sow herds versus naïve sow herds using sow performance data. Materials and Methods: Sixteen sow farms diagnosed with PRRS 1-7-4 over a 10-week period during spring 2015 were selected. Prior to PRRS 1-7-4...
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Introduction: Portugal is a country in south-west Europe where PRRSv strains affecting swine are mainly from the European type. Most of PRRS vaccines used have European strains. During late 2014 and 2015, we recorded 18 new cases of confirmed American type PRRSv (AS-PRRS), in farms previously positive for European type PRRSv (EU-PRRS) and vaccinated against European strains. All affected farms showed reproductive symptoms in sows and respiratory symptoms in nursery and...
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Digestibility of amino acids in hydrolyzed feather meal, flash dried poultry protein, poultry meal, and meat and bone meal fed to broiler chickens and pigs
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Introduction: Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and co-infection with Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M.hyo) plays a primary role in the porcine respiratory disease complex. Acute phase proteins (APPs) have been proposed as suitable veterinary biomarkers to monitor welfare, and inflammatory response. In addition, C-reactive protein (CRP) has recently been postulated as a potential biomarker use for vaccine safety studies and the measurement of haptoglobin (Hp) may be...
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Introduction: PCV2 infections can play an important role in swine respiratory disease. A feasible way of screening for PCV2 infections at herd level is cross-sectional blood sampling and qPCR analysis on pools of serum samples. The present study describes the results from VirusCheck, a service tool that includes herd information and serological investigation for PCV2. Materials and Methods: For each herd (n=146), blood samples were collected from pigs...
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Lost in the Market Uncertainty Caused by the Outbreak
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Introduction: Ascaris suum infections remain an important threat to the pig industry. A number of studies have been done in the last years regarding diagnosis, treatment and control. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of A. suum in Belgium and to identify associations with farm management practices. Materials and Methods: Between January 2013 and December 2015, 162 commercial pig herds in Belgium were randomly selected...
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Introduction: Haemophilus parasuis is regularly involved in fibrinous inflammation in pigs, especially relevant for pneumonia, serositis, arthritis, meningitis and pericarditis. As a worst case, SPF herds can suffer from Glässer’s disease after acute outbreaks in naïve animals. However, commensalism seems much more common than primary disease and it is hard to differentiate between strains of high and low virulence. The aim of the present survey...
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Introduction: A considerable number of modern pig herds suffer from problems with postpartum dysgalactia syndrome (PDS). PDS is a syndrome with a complex pathophysiology and several risk factors involved, thus the proper prophylaxis and diagnosis is difficult. During last years an increase of interest in porcine acute phase proteins (APP) and cytokines regarding their potential use as biomarkers has been observed. However, the knowledge about their serum concentrations during...
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Introduction: In 2010, three outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) occurred in South Korea. Among these outbreaks, the largest occurred from November 2010 to April 2011 and induced 153 total cases occurring in both cattle and pigs. During this outbreak, a nationwide vaccination policy was enforced and carried out in susceptible animals, including pigs. However, local reactions at the injection site were present after vaccination. Even now, these local reactions are...
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