Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae genetic variability within swine production flows

In this recent publication in the Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research, Dr. Alyssa Betlach from the MycoLab at the University of Minnesota investigates the genetic variability of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae within and across various production flows within a single system.

Key points

Multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis allows to detect genetic variability between M. hyopneumoniae strains.
Four production flows were sampled over a duration ranging from 4 months to 3 years.
Between 1 and 6 variable-number tandem repeat (VNTR) types were found within the four production flows.
VNTR types in growing sites seem to originate from their respective breeding herds.

Farm data analysis for lifetime performance components of sows and their predictors in breeding herds

This is our Friday rubric: every week a new Science Page from the Bob Morrison’s Swine Health Monitoring Project. The previous editions of the science page are available on our website.

For our US-based audience, we hope that you had a great Thanksgiving despite the circumstances. We are grateful for the ever-growing readership of this blog. Thank you for your support!

This week, we are sharing a report by Drs. Koketsu and Iiada from the School of Agriculture in Kanagawa, Japan. Their study focuses on the best predictors of lifetime performance in a breeding herd.

Key points

This review characterizes components of sow lifetime performance (longevity, prolificacy, fertility and lifetime efficacy) and its inter-relationships.
In the sow lifetime performance trees, annualized piglets weaned and annualized piglets born alive measured as lifetime efficiency are proposed as integrated measurements for sow lifetime performance.

Antimicrobial use in wean to market pigs in the United States

Today, we are sharing a publication from Drs. Davies and Singer regarding antimicrobial use in wean-to-market pigs in the United States based on self-reported data from swine producers and veterinarians. This work is published in Zoonoses and Public Health in open access.

Impacts

Demonstrates the feasibility of obtaining data on antimicrobial use in the United States swine industry through sharing of proprietary records within industry.
Provides the first substantial description of antimicrobial use in United States swine beyond annual sales and distribution data.
Indicates that specific metrics of antibiotic use that focus on conditions within individual industries will be most useful to advance stewardship.

Production losses from a recombinant PRRSv outbreak

This is our Friday rubric: every week a new Science Page from the Bob Morrison’s Swine Health Monitoring Project. The previous editions of the science page are available on our website.

This week, we are bringing to you a summary from a publication by the SEGES Danish Pig Research Centre and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. The study published in Porcine Health Management describes production losses associated with a recombinant PRRS strain in breeding herds.

Key Points

A new PRRS-1 recombinant between two vaccine strains variant was reported.
This variant was detected in a boar station and affected breeding and production herds.
Production losses associated with this variant in the production herds comprised a decrease in liveborns/litter and in weaned/litter, as well as an increase in stillborn/litter which was higher than observed in previous Danish PRRS outbreak reports.

A review of SARS-CoV2 and other coronaviruses survival in the environment

A review paper was recently published in the Transboundary and Emerging Diseases journal, result of a collaboration between the University of Minnesota and Alexandria University. In this publication, available in open access, researchers describe the survival rates of the virus on various surfaces and the impact of temperature and humidity.