This is our most popular series on the blog. Once a month, we are sharing with you a presentation given at the Allen D. Leman swine conference, on topics that the swine group found interesting, innovative or that lead to great discussions.
Want more? Find previous presentations in our Best of Leman archives.
This presentation was given by Annette O’Connor of Michigan State University during the 2024 Allen D. Leman Swine Conference, recorded September 23, 2024.
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.
In today’s Science Page Karolína Steinerová, John Harding, Sarah Parker, Heather Wilson, Arthur Nery Finatto and Yolande Seddon take a look at the connection between rearing pigs with play opportunities and infection resilience.
Continue reading “Rearing pigs with play opportunities: The effects on disease resilience in pigs experimentally inoculated with PRRSV”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.
The Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project take a look at whether PRRSv cases associated with the linage 1C, RFLP 1-4-4 variant can be detected in the outside areas of farms undergoing an outbreak.
Key Points
This week, we are sharing a report from the Kansas State University about monitoring PEDv in the environment.
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 sharing the second part of a scientific paper from faculty in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, regarding the effect of gestation pens versus group housing and dry versus wet feed on air contaminants. This week we are sharing the second part of the results, you may read the first half here.
Evolving production practices in the swine industry may alter the working environment. The second part of this research project characterized the wet versus dry feed in finishing on air contaminant concentrations.
Eight-hour time-weighted ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, respirable dust, respirable endotoxin, and carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature were measured regularly at stationary locations throughout a year in a facility with parallel finishing rooms using dry and wet feed delivery systems.
All ammonia, respirable dust, and carbon dioxide concentrations were below relevant regulatory and recommended levels . Hydrogen sulfide concentrations were always below the regulatory levels but they reached one of the recommended threshold levels on two occasions in the dry feed room. Respirable endotoxin concentrations regularly exceeded the proposed health-based recommended occupational exposure limit during autumn in the dry feed room and in both rooms during winter.
In all cases, concentrations varied significantly as a function of time. Concentrations of respirable dust, endotoxin and carbon dioxide were distinctly higher during winter than during summer. Temperatures varied significantly with time, but this difference was driven more by the need of the growing piglets than by seasonal differences.
Use of a wet feed system reduced respirable endotoxin concentrations substantially. Changing ventilation rates in response to seasonal differences influenced contaminant concentrations more than feed type.
You can also read the full article on the journal’s website.