Collecting oral fluid samples from due-to-wean litters

Feasibility of pooled oral fluid collection from pre-weaning piglets using cotton ropes

“…This pre-exposure effect has already been demonstrated for pen-based OF collection from growing pigs ( White et al., 2014 ) and sows ( Pol et al., 2017 ). This positive effect has been also demonstrated recently for due-to-wean piglets (17 days for median age) ( Almeida et al., 2020 ). Suspending a rope in farrowing pens the day before sample collection is relatively quick and would not be a time constraint for farmers.…”

“…Failures in pen-based oral fluid sampling were observed for sows with a failure rate of 37.8% in 112 collected sow pens ( Pol et al., 2017 ) and 40.2% in 137 collected sow pens ( Fablet et al., 2017 ). It was already observed for due-to-wean piglets with a failure rate of 77% ( Almeida et al., 2020 ). For weaned pigs, all rope presentation resulted in interaction and OF deposit onto the rope in previous studies for pigs aged of 4/5 weeks ( Graage et al., 2019 ), 8 weeks ( Dawson & Edwards, 2015 ; Graage et al., 2019 ), 12/14 weeks ( Graage et al., 2019 ), 16 weeks ( Dawson & Edwards, 2015 ; Fablet et al., 2017 ) and 22 weeks ( Fablet et al., 2017 ).…”

“…OF before weaning is therefore of interest. However, most reports on OF sampling for pathogen surveillance are carried out in weaned or adult pigs; only a limited number of publications report on suckling piglets ( Kittawornrat et al, 2014 ; Panyasing et al, 2014 ; Almeida et al., 2020 ). Despite these recent reports, the development of a robust sampling protocol under field conditions requires more data on the characteristics of the interaction between piglets and absorptive rope prior to weaning.…”

Guidelines for oral fluid-based surveillance of viral pathogens in swine

“…Three-stranded cotton rope~1.6 cm in diameter is optimal for oral fluid collection in animals ≥40 kg, but younger animals prefer smaller diameter rope (≤ 0.8 cm). Alternatively, individual strands of larger diameter rope can be used to meet the younger pigs' thinner rope preference [70,73].…”

“…Some pigs, particularly younger pigs, may be reluctant to approach the hanging rope upon their first exposure. Enticing pig participation by providing rope with flavored (fruits juice, sucrose,) [86], colored, or aromatic substances (garlic, unpublished data) has generally not been rewarding with the exception of one report showing a higher oral fluid collection success rate in suckling piglets exposed to rope treated with a commercial baby pig supplement [70]. However, the initial reluctance to approach the rope can often be overcome by training the pigs, i.e., placing the rope on the floor for the pigs to investigate (20 min), slowly dragging the rope to the spot where it will be hung (the pigs will follow the "tail" of the rope), and then hanging a new clean rope [38,74].…”