A descriptive study of weaned piglet transport practices in Alberta, Ontario, and Saskatchewan, Canada between 2014 and 2018.

Canadian transport practices for shipments of newly weaned piglets are not well-described despite documentation requirements for those conducting the movement of these animals. The objective of this study was to describe the characteristics of weaned piglet transport events that occurred between 2014 and 2018 using records provided by five Canadian swine companies. Following cleaning and validation, the dataset included records from 6203 transport events involving the transport of approximately 6.9 million piglets (5.7 kg, 4.1-7.9 kg) from 62 origin sites in Alberta, Ontario, or Saskatchewan, Canada. This represents approximately 4.7% of the piglets estimated to have been weaned in Canada between 2014 and 2018, and 1.7% of sow farms in Canada according to 2016 National census data. Most transport events ended at farms in Canada (71.3%), while the remaining delivered piglets to one of eight American states. The predominant trailer types used were Straightdeck (51.4%) and Potbelly (36.6%), but this did not reflect the number of piglets transported as Potbelly trailers have greater load capacity. Transport events most frequently involved loading piglets from one origin barn and delivering them to a single destination barn (78.1%). Only transport events involving export to the United States picked up piglets from, or delivered them to, more than one farm site. Most transport events had very short trip distances (median distance: 48.0 km; IQR: 497.0), but a marked range was observed (1.8-2931.2 km). Average daily temperature data matched to the transport records by origin and destination location demonstrated ambient environmental conditions during these transport events ranged from - 30.3-28.7 °C. Overall, less than 10% of transport events had mortality occur. Comparable with other observational studies documenting weaned piglet mortality, the average in-transit mortality rate observed over the multiple seasons, companies, trip distances, and other characteristics in this dataset was 0.027%. However, instances of mortality over 1% did sporadically occur and could translate to considerable losses given the large load sizes common for piglets of this age and size (median load size: 1105 piglets; IQR: 1036 piglets). These data provide a better understanding of the interconnectedness of the Canadian swine industry as well as common transport practices which may inform future research on disease transmission in swine transport networks, or piglet welfare during transport. Additionally, variables that were not present in this dataset that would further strengthen these types of investigations are highlighted (e.g., space allowance).

Effect of season on weaned piglet mortality during transport greater than 8 h under Canadian conditions.

North American swine producers commonly transport piglets away from sow farms at weaning. However, limited information on factors associated with piglet mortality during these transports is available. The objectives of this study were to identify transport characteristics that were associated with the occurrence of in-transit mortality (≥1 piglet found dead on arrival) and/or associated with increased rates of in-transit mortality using records of weaned piglet transport voluntarily provided by Canadian swine companies. Following cleaning and validation, records of 810 long duration (>8 h to <28 h) weaned piglet (min.: 4.2, max.: 7.7 kg) transports conducted between 2016 and 2017 by four companies were available to investigate risk factors for the occurrence of in-transit mortality. Transports originated in Ontario, Saskatchewan, or Alberta and 30% of transports had one or more mortality events recorded. Season of transport was significant in the final logistic regression model; the odds of a transport having mortality occur was greater during the winter (December, January, February) compared to the spring (March, April, May) (OR=1.8; 95% CI: 1.13-2.96; P = 0.013), summer (June, July, August) (OR= 2.1; 95% CI: 1.28-3.34; P = 0.003) and fall (September, October, November) (OR=2.2; 95% CI: 1.36-3.62; P = 0.001), with no differences observed between the other seasons. Additionally, records from 755 long duration weaned piglet (min.: 4.2, max.: 7.9 kg) transports conducted between 2014 and 2017 by a single company was used to identify risk factors for increased rates of in-transit mortality. Transports originated in Saskatchewan or Alberta and 44.9% of transports had one or more mortality events recorded with in-transit mortality rates ranging from 0.00% to 6.16%. Season of transport was again significant in the final negative binomial regression model. The rate of piglet death in-transit was increased in all seasons compared to the summer with winter transport having the highest predicted rate of in-transit mortality. Transports conducted during the winter had a rate of in-transit mortality nearly five times greater compared to transports conducted during the summer (IRR= 4.94; 95% CI: 3.11-7.87; P = 0.000) and approximately three times greater compared to transports conducted during the fall (IRR=2.7; 95% CI: 1.73-4.30; P = 0.000) and spring (IRR=3.1; 95% CI: 1.96-4.99; P = 0.000). These results suggest that winter transport in Western Canada is an area of opportunity to reduce in-transit mortality during long duration weaned piglet transport. Research investigating transport practices that may mitigate the effects of extreme cold (e.g., space allowance, bedding provision) would be useful for informing specific recommendations for this age group.

Risk factors for duration of equine rhinitis A virus respiratory disease.

BACKGROUND: Infectious respiratory disease is common in young horses and can impact athletic performance and long-term health. Significant variation in the duration of clinical disease has been observed, even in the absence of secondary complications. The determination of factors associated with disease chronicity may facilitate clinical decision-making and the development of improved biosecurity protocols. OBJECTIVE: To investigate contact network characteristics, and demographic variables associated with time to clinical recovery from Equine Rhinitis A virus respiratory disease. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. METHODS: Yearling Standardbred racehorses (n = 58) housed in a multi-barn training facility in Southern Ontario were included. Horses were monitored daily for clinical signs of acute respiratory disease over a 41-day period in Autumn 2017. Contact patterns between horses, including older racehorses, were determined through use of proximity loggers attached to halters during the initial 7-day of the study. Associations between duration of disease, demographic factors (birth month, gait, sex and yearling sale), serologic titres and network metrics (degree, betweenness and Eigenvector centrality) were investigated using a Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS: Yearling attack rate for infectious respiratory disease was 87.9% (n = 51). Median time to recovery was 6 days (IQR = 1-32) and 17 horses were censored due to early withdrawal or failure to recover during the study period. In those yearlings born February-May, birth month was significant in the Cox proportional hazard model (Hazard Ratio 0.7, 95% CI 0.49-1, P = 0.05). MAIN LIMITATION: Probability of censoring was not independent of outcome which necessitated use of sensitivity analysis. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest late born foals are less likely to recover quickly from infectious respiratory disease.

Rapid Communication: Postmortem lesions and heart weights of in-transit-loss market pigs in Ontario.

In-transit losses (ITL) of market-weight pigs are defined as pigs that die or pigs that become nonambulatory during loading and shipping from the farm to the abattoir. The low proportion of ITL in market pigs implies that individual pig factors may influence ITL, in addition to commonly considered environmental or transport factors. Postmortem examinations of in-transit-loss pigs ( = 85) from 1 Ontario, Canada, abattoir indicated the cause of death to be acute heart failure as a result of cardiac lesions that developed prior to transport. The presence of preexisting cardiac lesions may explain why no or only a few pigs die in a trailer even when the entire load is exposed to extreme temperatures and other common transport risk factors.

Clinical and economic effectiveness of an inpatient anticoagulation service.

We conducted a prospective cohort study to evaluate clinical and economic end points achieved by a pharmacist-managed anticoagulation service compared with usual care (50 patients/group). The primary therapeutic end point was the time between starting heparin therapy and surpassing the activated partial thromboplastin time therapeutic threshold. The primary economic end point was the direct variable cost of hospitalization from admission to discharge. No significant differences between groups were noted for the primary therapeutic end point. Total hospital costs were significantly lower for patients receiving pharmacist-managed care than for those receiving usual care ($1594 and $2014, respectively, 1997 dollars, p=0.04). Earlier start of warfarin (p=0.05) and shorter hospital stay (5 and 7 days, p=0.05) were associated with the pharmacist-managed group.

Acute renal failure associated with the administration of parenteral etidronate.

Etidronate-induced toxicity has not been well documented in humans. This is a detailed account of a case of acute renal failure believed to be due to etidronate. The patient inadvertently received an overdose of etidronate by the intravenous route and subsequently developed acute renal failure as evidenced by a rapid and sustained rise in serum creatinine. The temporal relationship was strongly suggestive of etidronate-induced nephrotoxicity. Other possible causes, such as postrenal obstruction, acute tubular necrosis due to hypotension or sepsis, and other nephrotoxic drugs were excluded through diagnostic and laboratory tests.

Prospective evaluation of red man syndrome in patients receiving vancomycin.

The incidence of red man syndrome (RMS) and its relationship to histamine were investigated in patients receiving vancomycin or an aminoglycoside (control). During the 60-min infusions, patients were observed for signs or symptoms consistent with RMS, including pruritus, erythema, angioedema, and cardiovascular depression. Four blood samples were obtained at 30-min intervals for determination of histamine concentrations. One (3.4%) of 29 vancomycin- and none of 8 aminoglycoside-treated patients had documented RMS. The mean maximum changes in blood pressure and heart rate were not significant and were similar between groups. Increases in histamine concentrations to > 1 ng/mL occurred only in 25% (2/8) of the aminoglycoside patients. Vancomycin induced minimal changes in histamine concentrations despite the occurrence of RMS. From these observations, it appears that RMS is not closely associated with histamine release, and elevated histamine concentrations do not predict RMS. Further investigation is needed to elucidate other mediators of RMS.

pH-related changes in the absorption of dipyridamole in the elderly.

The bioavailability of dipyridamole, a poorly soluble weak base, was evaluated in 11 healthy, older subjects (> or = 65 years), 6 with a low fasting gastric pH (control) and 5 with a fasting gastric pH > 5 (achlorhydric), in a randomized, crossover design. Subjects received 50 mg dipyridamole as a single oral dose both with and without pretreatment with 40 mg famotidine (control subjects) or 1360 mg glutamic acid HCl (achlorhydric subjects). Gastric pH was monitored by Heidelberg radiotelemetric capsule. Gastric emptying of 99mTc-radiolabeled orange juice was measured. Gastric pH appeared to be a primary determinant in dipyridamole absorption in the elderly. Elevated gastric pH resulted in compromised dipyridamole absorption compared to low-gastric pH conditions in all cases. The administration of glutamic acid hydrochloride to achlorhydric subjects prior to the dose of dipyridamole corrected for the decreased Cmax and AUC(0-36) exhibited in achlorhydric subjects without pretreatment. Tmax and ka were slower in achlorhydrics, although pretreatment with glutamic acid HCl tended to normalize these parameters. Based on these results, it would be beneficial for achlorhydrics to take glutamic acid hydrochloride prior to taking dipyridamole and other medications which need a low gastric pH for complete absorption. The administration of 40 mg famotidine was successful in elevating the gastric pH to > 5 in all subjects and maintained it at > 5 for at least 3 hr in all subjects tested.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)