Influence of porcine circovirus type 2 vaccination on the probability and severity of pneumonia detected postmortem

Abstract

To evaluate the influence of porcine circovirus type 2 vaccination (PCV-2) on the probability and severity of pneumonia, postmortem findings of 247,505 pigs slaughtered between 2008 and 2011 were analysed by applying a cumulative link mixed model. Three major effects could be observed: (1) PCV-2 vaccination significantly (P<0.01) reduced the odds (coefficient: −0.05) of postmortem findings of mild, moderate and severe pneumonia for vaccinated pigs. (2) Pigs from fattening farms were less likely (coefficient: −0.44; P<0.05) to exhibit signs of pneumonia at slaughter than pigs from farrow-to-finish farms. (3) When vaccinated, the odds of detecting postmortem signs showed an even more pronounced reduction (coefficient: −0.19; P<0.001) for pigs from fattening farms. Combining PCV-2 vaccination, farm type and interaction effects between these two factors, a pig vaccinated against PCV-2 from a fattening farm had only half the chance (OR 0.51) of pneumonia being detected at postmortem than a non-vaccinated pig from a farrow-to-finish farm. The study demonstrates the benefit of a vaccination programme against PCV-2 as an important tool to reduce the risk of postmortem pneumonia findings and the severity of pneumonia in pigs at slaughter.

Influence of porcine circovirus type 2 vaccination on the level of antimicrobial consumption on 65 Austrian pig farms

“…While on farrow-to-finish farms vaccinating against PCV-2, a reduction in antimicrobial consumption of approximately 15 per cent was determined, statistical modelling revealed a much larger estimated reduction in antibiotic use of 67 per cent on finishing farms using PCV-2 vaccination over the study period. A similar farm type-related effect of PCV-2 vaccination was also found in a previous retrospective study on the prevalence of pneumonia postmortem findings in slaughter pigs (Raith and others 2015). Two main effects are presumably responsible for this relationship between farm type and the effect of the PCV-2 vaccination programme.…”

“…The benefits of PCV-2 vaccination in relation to respiratory diseases have already been shown by a number of studies (Fachinger and others 2008, Kixmöller and others 2008, Raith and others 2015) and it has been suggested that this positive effect is primarily due to a reduction in secondary bacterial infections (Fachinger and others 2008, Kixmöller and others 2008). Alban and others (2013) have previously reported a similar observation in Denmark, where the increased use of vaccines against respiratory diseases (including PCV-2-related infections) corresponded to a decline in the use of antimicrobials for the treatment of respiratory infections in all age groups.…”

“…Several recent Austrian studies based on routinely collected data within a slaughterhouse's private quality control system (Schleicher and others 2013, Trauffler and others 2014a, b, Kuchling and others 2015, Raith and others 2015) have provided evidence of the usefulness of analysing existing data. Furthermore, the use of routinely collected data is known to significantly save costs compared with commissioning primary data collection (Cook 2015).…”

“…The Austrian vaccination programme against PCV‐2 offered a unique opportunity to evaluate the effect of vaccination on a variety of clinical and management aspects on farms. In a recently published study, it has been shown that the use of vaccines against PCV‐2 in Austria led to a decline in the rates of pneumonia in pigs at slaughter over a period of four years (Raith and others 2015). Simultaneously, antimicrobial usage in an Austrian study population of 75 pig farms was determined to have decreased and respiratory diseases were found to be one of the most important indications for the use of antimicrobial substances (Trauffler and others 2014a).…”

Field evaluation of piglet vaccination with a Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae bacterin as compared to a ready-to-use product including porcine circovirus 2 and M. hyopneumoniae in a conventional French farrow-to-finish farm

“…In Western France (Brittany), Porcine Respiratory Disease Complex (PRDC) has been extensively studied; its main infectious risk factors are Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae , Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) and the Swine influenza virus (SIV) H1N1, while PCV2 is less frequently identified [ 7 ]. However, an Austrian study of over 254,000 slaughtered pigs demonstrated that finishers raised on farrow-to-finish farms and that had not been vaccinated against PCV2 were at significantly higher risk of presenting pneumonia post-mortem than vaccinated fatteners from finisher farms [ 8 ]. Interestingly, Austria and Brittany have similar pig farm size and production systems.…”