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Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is endemic in some regions of Japan. We investigated the effects of PRV infection status on herd productivity. Serum samples were obtained from 48 swine herds in Japan. Within each herd, three serum samples were obtained from growing pigs at four different ages, as well as from sows in low and high parity groups. Sera were tested for antibodies against wild-type PRV via competitive ELISA. Herds were classified into PRV positive and negative groups based on serological results. Herds infected with PRV exhibited postweaning mortalities (6.84%) that were significantly (P=0.0018) higher than those in unaffected herds (4.73%). Because of the reduced productivity in PRV positive herds, the current PRV eradication program must be strengthened.

The objective was to investigate porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) outbreak that occurred in 2014 in Japan and its effects on herd-level productivity using a data recording system (PigINFO). The study herds were selected from farrow-to-finish herds (n=99) that entered in the PigINFO system between July 2013 and March 2015. From 1 April to 30 June 2014 (PED epidemic), any herds with clinical signs of PED and feces positive for porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) on polymerase chain reaction analysis and/or immunohistochemical staining were defined as PED-positive (n=38). They were further classified into those with long PED periods (L-PED-positive; n=28) and those with short PED periods (S-PED-positive; n=10). Herds with no clinical signs of PED were classified as PED-negative (n=61). Herd-level production data, including preweaning mortality (%; PRWM), postweaning mortality (%; POWM), pigs weaned per litter (PWL), pigs born alive per litter, litters per mated female per year and pigs marketed per sow (MP), were calculated every 3 months during study period. During the PED epidemic, L-PED-positive herds had significantly higher PRWM and POWM than PED-negative herds, and L-PED-positive and S-PED-positive herds had significantly lower PWL. During October–December 2014, L-PED-positive herds had significantly fewer MP than PED-negative herds. The PED outbreak increased mortality and consequently reduced the numbers of marketed pigs. The rapid control of an outbreak is important for reducing the financial losses arising from PED infections.

SummaryThis study was conducted to create a new benchmarking system for farrow-to-finish swine farms in Japan. Descriptive statistics of the profitability and production variables were calculated using data obtained from 94 farrow-to-finish swine farms in 2010. The mean values±SD for crude profit, carcass weight, price of marketed carcasses, and feed price were $4,633/sow±861, 1,608 kg/sow± 184, $5.47/kg±0.31, and $0.51/kg±0.05, respectively. The mean values±SD for pigs weaned per mated female per year, litters per mated female per year, and pigs born alive per litter (PBA) were 23.0/(female·year)±2.19, 2.33/(female・year)±0.12, and 10.79/litter ±0.79, respectively. The postweaning mortality risk was positively correlated with feed conversion rate (P＜0.01) and the preweaning mortality risk was positively correlated with PBA (P＜0.01). A sensitivity analysis was simulated within a production tree and the price of marketed carcass had the greatest effects on crude profit per farm. The present benchmarking system is useful in identifying weakness within the farm production system and the estimated financial returns from improvements in production variables could encourage farmers to achieve better production efficiencies.

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