Association between endometritis and urocystitis in culled sows

Abstract

Slaughterhouse sampling and examination of urogenital tracts of 499 sows and gilts culled for reproductive reasons from 21 Hungarian herds were performed over a 6-year period. The aim was to estimate the prevalence of different urogenital tract lesions, and to provide sensitivity and specificity estimates for macroscopic and bacteriological examinations in the diagnosis of urocystitis and endometritis. Furthermore, the association between endometritis and urocystitis was assessed. The prevalence of main lesions of the urogenital tract was similar to that reported in other studies. The 'sensitivity' of macroscopic and bacteriological methods was determined statistically by taking histopathology as the 'Gold Standard'. As a result, the 'sensitivity' of macroscopic methods for the diagnosis of endometritis and urocystitis was ≤ 18.1% and 47.9%, respectively, while the 'sensitivity' of bacteriology for the diagnosis of the same conditions was ≤ 31.8% and 63.0%, respectively. The presumed positive association between urocystitis and endometritis was confirmed; it was not confounded by parity. Animals affected by urocystitis had a 3.5 times higher odds to simultaneously have endometritis than animals without urocystitis.

Urinary tract infections in sows in Italy: accuracy of urinalysis and urine culture against histological findings

“…In disagreement with Biksi and others (2002), the quantitative urine culture showed high specificity and PPV in UTI detection, a result which might have been related to the different sampling criteria operated.…”

“…In agreement with observations by Biksi and others (2002), the findings from macroscopic examination of the LUT did not correlate with histological findings, thus underscoring the importance of histopathology in the diagnosis of UTI. Despite the lack of generally accepted diagnostic criteria for urocystitis in swine, histopathology should be regarded as a reference method.…”

“…Females are particularly predisposed to infection because perineal contamination leads to vulval and vaginal colonisation with faecal organisms, providing a pool from which bladder infection develops due to the ascent of bacteria through the relatively short female urethra (Carr and others 1995, Woldemeskel and others 2002, Little and others 2006). Economic loss from UTI in pig herds is heavy: UTI associated with postparturient swine urogenital disease decreases the farrowing rate and increases abortion and sow mortality (Biksi and others 2002, Waller and others 2002, Mauch and Bilkei 2004, Glock and Bilkei 2005, Drolet and Dee 2006). The proportion of sow deaths attributable to cystitis/pyelonephritis varies from 10 per cent to more than 40 per cent in Europe, and UTI is ­considered a primary leading cause for culling and sudden death worldwide (Chagnon and others 1991, D'Allaire and others 1991, Christensen and others 1995, Abiven and others 1998, Duran 2001, Sanz and others 2007).…”

Slaughterhouse examination of culled sows in commercial pig herds

“…Faecal contamination of the vulvovestibular region can lead to an increased prevalence of ascending urogenital infections (Meredith, 1982). The higher percentage of animals with histopathological lesions than with macroscopical lesions indicate that histopathology is more sensitive to detect endometritis (Biksi et al, 2002), especially in chronically affected animals (De Winter et al, 1995).…”

“…This implies that bacteriological examination of uteri at slaughter is not a sensitive tool to detect endometritis, although the presence of bacteria showed a slight agreement with macroscopical and histopathological endometritis. Biksi et al (2002) stated that performing macroscopical and bacteriological testing together had beneficial effects in order to detect endometritis. The absence of culturable bacteria in uteri of sows with endometritis could have several reasons.…”