Multiple vaccinations: what effect on M. hyopneumoniae infection?

Dr. Betlach and the team from the MycoLab recently published a study in the journal Vaccine, regarding the impact of multiple vaccines against Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. They assessed bacterial load and protection against infection in gilts.

Highlights

Vaccination against M. hyopneumoniae reduced bacterial load in infected gilts.
Vaccination of both infected and contact gilts reduced M. hyopneumoniae transmission.
Genetic diversity of M. hyopneumoniae was not influenced by vaccination.

Mycoplasmas in swine: a new comprehensive book

Dr. Maria Pieters, head of the MycoLab at the University of Minnesota has edited, in collaboration with Drs. Dominiek Maes and Marina Sibila, a newly published book on swine Mycoplasmas. Mycoplasmas in Swine provides up-to-date scientific, clinical and practical information useful to scientists and veterinarians alike. Most emphasis has been placed on Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, as this is economically the most important Mycoplasma sp. in swine. However, other pathogenic species like Mycoplasma hyorhinis, Mycoplasma hyosynoviae and Mycoplasma suis are discussed.

Vet Student Attitudes about Swine Change after Lecture and Farm Visit

In this new publication from the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, Dr. Perle Zhitnitskiy from the UMN swine group, in collaboration with Dr. Beth Ventura explores the impact that various educational initiatives have on first-year veterinary students attitudes towards swine production.

Key Points

First-year students undergo 1-hour lecture and one farm visit in their first year of the curriculum.
Knowledge and attitudes towards pigs improved after the educational initiatives.
Students became more segmented in their overall view of swine production.
Provision of enrichment did not increase students’ satisfaction with the level of animal welfare on the farm.

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.

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.