Health Issues in the Breeding Herd

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Health Issues in the Breeding Herd
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Key Points of Consideration

• A pork production system is a pyramid system
  anything that hits the top of the pyramid will
  flow down and through the system.
• Subjective analysis of a problem is the most
  common approach but is the WRONG approach!
• Subjective analysis relies on
• Assumptions
• Cause/affect relationships

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Key Points (cont.)

• Objective analysis of a problem is the CORRECT
  approach.
• Objective analysis relies on
• Production records (Accurate)
• Scientific approach

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Signs of Potential Disease to Monitor

• Herd
• Conception rate
• Farrowing rate
• Born alive, stillborn, mummies
• Abortion/pseudopregnancy rate

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Signs of Potential Disease to Monitor

• Individual
• Sows off feed/water
• /- fever
• Lame sows
• Vaginal discharge
• Pneumonia/scours

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Reproductive Diseases

• Lepto
• Parvo
• Piglet Scours
• E. coli
• Clostridium
• Type C
• Type A
• Difficile
• Swine Influenza Virus (SIV)
• PRRS

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Leptospirosis

• Routinely vaccinated for in most herds
• Areas of concern
• Bratislava may be an oversold product
• Dont forget to vaccinate Boars

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Parvo

• Ubiquitous on all hog farms
• Routinely vaccinated for (Immunity is lifelong)
• Gilts need to be monitored for existing maternal
  antibodies that can last for 150-180 days
• Proper vaccination AFTER maternal antibodies are
  gone.
• 3rd vaccination is becoming common.
• Relationship to PMWS and circovirus Type 2.

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Piglet Scours

• E. coli
• 12 hours to 10 days of age at onset
• Severe watery diarrhea (secretory)
• Can be primary or secondary
• Controllable with PF vaccines if properly
  isolated and timing of vaccines is appropriate

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Piglet Scours (cont)

• Clostridium
• Type C - sudden death with blood in small
  intestine
• Type A - can induce a severe watery diarrhea to a
  cowpatty type of stool
• Difficile - similar to type A

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Piglet Scours (cont)

• Control Measures
• AI/AO farrowing rooms
• Proper cleaning and disinfecting
• Cleaning crates behind sows up to and for 36
  hours after farrowing
• Pre-farrowing vaccination (commercial/farm
  specific)

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Swine Influenza Virus (SIV)

• H1N1 Old Strain of SIV
• Typically seen as a tremendous outbreak in
  finishers with thumping pigs that have an
  extremely high temperature and a deep cough
• Sows would go through a respiratory infection as
  well and may abort from the fever

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SIV (cont)

• H3N2 - Typically this virus has a more insidious
  onset in both the finisher pigs and adult
  breeding herd
• Dec. conception rate
• Dec. farrowing rate
• Inc. re-cycles
• Inc. abortions
• Signs in newborn piglets not common

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SIV (cont)

• Diagnostics
• Nasal swabs most effective if used in a sudden
  outbreak
• Tissue submissions lungs can be submitted for
  IHC, Histology, or VI
• Serology Elisa or HI test are both applicable
• HI titers will vary between serotypes with H1N1
  titers being ltH3N2 titers

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SIV (cont)

• Control
• Vaccination with dual SIV vaccine to all breeding
  animals then pre-farrowing
• Piglets typically do not need vaccinated

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PRRS

• Presentation can vary from simple seroconversion
  to massive reproductive outbreaks in sow herd
  and/or devastating respiratory signs in
  nursery-grower-finisher pigs
• Signs seen depend on type of outbreak

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PRRS (cont)

• Diagnostics
• Histology
• IHC
• Virus Isolation
• PCR
• Serology Elisa test

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PRRS (cont)

• Control
• Biosecurity
• Enhanced culling procedures
• Proper gilt acclimation prior to entry into herd
• Sow herd stabilization with killed vaccines