Managing Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli Using Statistical Process Control Charts for Routine Health and Production Monitoring in Pig Farming.

Oedema disease (ED) caused by Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli in pigs is a serious life-threatening disease, particularly among weaned piglets. When a preventive protocol is adopted in a specific farm, interpretation of effectiveness is often complicated in field conditions due to natural or "common cause" variation. For this reason, in this study a Statistical process control (SPC) approach was used to retrospectively evaluate the application of an ED preventive protocol (lower protein diet, ad-libitum fiber, vaccination at 5 days of age) in an infected commercial piglets' weaning site. The analysis was established over a 9-years period (n = 75 consecutive batches; 1,800 weaners per batch) using mortality for each batch as the key parameter of health and production; the statistics and the control limits (mean ± 3-fold sd; UCL, upper control limit; LCL, lower control limit) were based on data from the first 28 batches (Period 1) before the onset of the first ED clinical signs. The charts allowed the detection of defined out of control batches (i.e., with mortality out of the intervention limits) from batch 29 ongoing, exploring a Period 2 (unstable production and ED clinical signs; 36 batches) and a Period 3 (application of the ED preventive protocol; 11 batches). Mortality evaluation using SPC revealed a production system defined under-control (mean moving range bar = 1,34%; UCL = 4,37%; LCL = 0%) during Period 1. During Period 2, charts lost the state of statistical control, as showed by several signals of special cause variation due to the ED outbreak. Period 3 was characterized again by a state of statistical control, where no signals of special cause variation was showed. In conclusion, the retrospective application of SPC charts in the present study was able to confirm the efficacy of an ED preventive protocol in reducing mortality in a piglets' weaning site. SPC charting is suggested as an useful tool to provide insights into relationships between health, managerial, and welfare decision and some selected iceberg parameters in livestock.

Sensitivity of Chlamydia suis to cathelicidin peptides.

Nine Chlamydia suis isolates, obtained from pigs with conjunctivitis, were molecularly characterized by ompA sequencing and their in vitro susceptibility to six cathelicidin peptides (SMAP-29, BAC-7, BMAP-27, BMAP-27, BMAP-28, PG-1, LL-37) determined in cell culture. SMAP-29 was the most active peptide, reducing the intracellular inclusion number by > or =50% at a concentration of 10 microg/ml (3 microM) in six of the nine isolates tested. Three molecularly identical isolates were insensitive at a concentration as high as 80 microg/ml (25 microM). Of the remaining cathelicidin peptides tested, BAC-7 and BMAP-27 were active against six C. suis isolates at a concentration of 80 microg/ml (25 and 26 microM, respectively). Cathelicidins LL-37 and PG-1 did not show any anti-chlamydial activity at 80 microg/ml.

Benchmarking of pluck lesions at slaughter as a health monitoring tool for pigs slaughtered at 170kg (heavy pigs).

Abattoir post-mortem inspections offer a useful tool for the development and monitoring of animal health plans and a source of data for epidemiological investigation. The aim of the present work was to develop an abattoir benchmarking system which provides feedback on the prevalence and severity of lesions of the pluck (lung, pleura and liver) in batches of pigs to inform individual producers and their veterinarians of the occurrence of pathological conditions affecting their herds. The weekly collection of data throughout a year (from September 2014 to September 2015) supported the further aim of providing benchmark values for the prevalence of lesions and their seasonality in Italian heavy pig production. Finally, correlations and redundancies among different lesions were evaluated. In total, 727 batches of heavy pigs (around 165kg live weight and 9 months of age) derived from 272 intensive commercial farms located in Northern Italy were monitored. Within each batch, an average number of 100 plucks was individually scored, assigning a value for lesions of lungs (0-24), pleura (0-4) and liver (1-3). Presence of lung scars, abscesses, consolidations, lobular/chessboard pattern lesions and pleural sequestra was also recorded. Statistical analysis showed a strong farm effect (36-68% of variation depending of the lesion) and a seasonal effect on all lesions. Winter showed the lowest percentage of severe lung and pleural lesions (P<0.001 and P=0.005), whereas lung scars from older lesions (P=0.003), as well as severe hepatic lesions (P<0.001), were reduced in autumn. In order to allow effective benchmarking of each farm in a determined health class, scores for each quartile of the population are reported. Whilst such a benchmarking scheme provides useful data for herd health management, challenges of repeatability of scoring and cost of implementation need to be overcome.

Long-term liquid storage and reproductive evaluation of an innovative boar semen extender (Formula12®) containing a non-reducing disaccharide and an enzymatic agent.

There are no reports of saccharolytic enzymes being used in the preparation of formulations for animal semen extenders. In the present study, the use of an innovative semen extender (Formula12®) in the long-term liquid storage of boar semen at 17°C was evaluated. The formulation included use of a disaccharide (sucrose) as the energy source precursor coupled to an enzymatic agent (invertase). The innovative extender was evaluated and compared in vitro to a commercial extender (Vitasem LD®) for the following variables: Total Motility (TM), Forward Progressive Motility (FPM), sperm morphology, membrane integrity, acrosome integrity, and chromatin instability. Boar sperm diluted in Formula12® and stored for 12 days at 17°C maintained a commercially acceptable FPM (>70%). Using the results from the in vitro study, an AI field trial was performed. A total of 170 females were inseminated (135 with Formula12® and 35 with Vitasem LD®). The pregnancy rates were 97.8% compared with 91.4%, and the farrowing rates were 96.3% compared with 88.6% when Formula12® and Vitasem LD® were used, respectively. The mean number of piglets born/sow were 14.92±0.46 compared with 13.83±0.70, and the number of piglets born alive/sow were 14.07±0.46 compared with 12.12±0.70 (P<0.05). The results obtained in this study demonstrated that use of the innovative concept to provide a precursor of glucose and fructose as energy sources for an enzymatic agent in an extender allowed for meeting the metabolic requirements of boar sperm during storage at 17°C. It is suggested that there was a beneficial effect on fertilizing capacity of boar sperm in the female reproductive tract with use of these technologies.