Detection of Porcine Respirovirus 1 (PRV1) in Poland: Incidence of Co-Infections with Influenza A Virus (IAV) and Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) in Herds with a Respiratory Disease

Porcine respirovirus 1 (PRV1) is also known as porcine parainfluenza virus 1 (PPIV1). The prevalence and the role of PRV1 infections for pig health is largely unknown. In order to assess the PRV1 prevalence in Poland, nasal swabs and oral fluids collected from pigs from 30 farms were examined with RT real-time PCR. Additionally, IAV and PRRSV infection statuses of PRV1-positive samples were examined. The results showed that the virus is highly prevalent (76.7% farms positive) and different patterns of PRV1 circulation in herds with mild–moderate respiratory disease were observed. Co-infections with IAV and PRRSV were infrequent and detected in 8 (23.5%) and 4 (11.8%) out of 34 PRV1-positive nasal swab pools from diseased pens, respectively. In one pen PRV1, IAV, and PRRSV were detected at the same time. Interestingly, PRV1 mean Ct value in samples with co-infections was significantly lower (29.8 ± 3.1) than in samples with a single PRV1 infection (32.5 ± 3.6) (p < 0.05), which suggested higher virus replication in these populations. On the other hand, the virus detection in pig populations exhibiting respiratory clinical signs, negative for PRRSV and IAV, suggests that PRV1 should be involved in differential diagnosis of respiratory problems.

Microbiological services delivered by the pig gut microbiome

The gut microbiome plays a fundamental role in regulating pig health and growth. Understanding the functions performed by the microbiome is vital when considering it as a target to improve pig health and growth, a pursuit driven by the increasing regulation of traditional means of disease control and growth promotion. This chapter explores the structure, diversity and functions of the pig gut microbiome, focusing on the role of the resident bacterial communities. It examines their relationships, interactions, and contributions to the host, ranging from the production of antimicrobial substances and prevention of pathogen colonisation to improvement of nutrient digestibility and the production of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and vitamins. The chapter also reviews bacterial communication and the antibiotic resistome of the pig gut, outlining how they may be targeted/manipulated to reduce antibiotic resistance and promote improved gut health.

Water Distribution Systems in Pig Farm Buildings: Critical Elements of Design and Management

Drinking water distribution systems (WDSs) within buildings on pig farms have critical elements of their design and management that impact water provision to pigs, water quality, the efficacy of in-water antimicrobial dosing, and, thus, pig health and performance. We used a mixed-methods approach to survey managers of 25 medium to large single-site and multi-site pig farming enterprises across eastern and southern Australia. We found wide variation in the configuration (looped or branched) and total length of WDSs within buildings across farms and in pipe materials and diameters. Within many conventional buildings and some eco-shelters, WDSs were ‘over-sized’, comprising large-diameter main pipelines with high holding volumes, resulting in slow velocity water flows through sections of a WDS’s main pipeline. In over half of the weaner buildings and one-third of grower/finisher buildings, the number of pigs per drinker exceeded the recommended maximum. Few farms measured flow rates from drinkers quantitatively. WDS sanitization was not practiced on many farms, and few managers were aware of the risks to water quality and pig health. We identified important aspects of water provision to pigs for which valuable recommendations could be added to industry guidelines available to pig farm managers.

The Potential for Sialic Acid and Sialylated Glycoconjugates as Feed Additives to Enhance Pig Health and Production

Swine are one of the most important agricultural species for human food production. Given the significant disease challenges confronting commercial pig farming systems, introduction of a new feed additive that can enhance animal performance by improving growth and immune status represents a major opportunity. One such candidate is sialic acid (Sia), a diverse family of nine-carbon acidic sugar, present in various organs and body fluid, as well as an essential structural and functional constituent of brain ganglioside of humans and animals. Sias are key monosaccharide and biomarker of sialylated milk oligosaccharide (Sia-MOS’s), sialylated glycoproteins and glycolipids in milk and all vertebrate cells. Sias accomplish many critical endogenous functions by virtue of their physiochemical properties and via recognition by intrinsic receptors. Human milk sialylated glycoconjugates (Sia-GC’s) are bioactive compounds known to act as prebiotics that promote gut microbiota development, gut maturation, pathogen resistance, immunomodulation, anti-inflammation and neurodevelopment. However, the importance of Sia in pig health, especially in the growth, development, immunity of developing piglet and in pig production remains unknown. This review aims to critically discuss the current status of knowledge of the biology and nutritional role of Sia and Sia-GC’s on health of both female sow and newborn piglets.

Evolution of Pig Fecal Microbiota Composition and Diversity in Response to Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli Infection and Colistin Treatment in Weaned Piglets

The intestinal microbiota plays several important roles in pig health and growth. The aim of the current study was to characterize the changes in the fecal microbiota diversity and composition of weaned piglets following an oral challenge with an ETEC: F4 strain and/or a treatment with colistin sulfate (CS). Twenty-eight piglets were used in this experiment and were divided into four groups: challenged untreated, challenged treated, unchallenged treated, and unchallenged untreated. Rectal swab samples were collected at five sampling times throughout the study. Total genomic DNA was used to assess the fecal microbiota diversity and composition using the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. The relative abundance, the composition, and the community structure of piglet fecal microbiota was highly affected by the ETEC: F4 challenge throughout the experiment, while the oral treatment with CS, a narrow spectrum antibiotic, resulted in a significant decrease of E. coli/Shigella populations during the treatment period only. This study was the first to identify some gut microbiota subgroups (e.g., Streptococcus, Lachnospiraceae) that are associated with healthy piglets as compared to ETEC: F4 challenged animals. These key findings might contribute to the development of alternative strategies to reduce the use of antimicrobials in the control of post-weaning diarrhea in pigs.

Recent advances of vitamin D in immune, reproduction, performance for pig: a review

Vitamin D (VD) has been reported to play multiple and significant roles in improving pig health via modulating calcium and phosphorus homeostasis, skeletal muscle development and the immune system. Apart from food, photochemical action of 7-dehydrocholesterol in the skin is the main source of this molecule for pigs. The VD from dietary intake or photosynthesized via skin can be absorbed into the liver for hydroxylation, and further hydroxylated into the hormone form of VD (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 or 1,25(OH)2D3) in the kidney. As a sterol hormone, 1,25(OH)2D3 is able to bind with the VD receptor (VDR), and this ligand-receptor complex (VDR/retinoic X receptor) translocates from the cytoplasm into the nucleus to regulate gene expression, thus modulating metabolism. In this review, we summarized the recent studies regarding the non-skeletal health benefits of VD for pigs, and focused on the recent advances in the cellular and molecular mechanisms of VD that affects the immune system and reproductive health. This review provides a reference for future research and application of VD in pigs.

97 Formulating to Fermentable Protein Can Affect the Health and Performance of Nursery Pigs

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of fermentable protein (FP) on pig health and performance. FP is defined as the difference in ATTD CP and AID CP on a total CP basis. In experiment 1, 1,449 pigs (~19 d of age; initial BW = 5.9 ± 0.2 kg, 16 reps/trt, 22–23 pigs/pen) were blocked by pen location and randomly assigned to one of 4 treatments with FP levels of 1.36, 1.26, 1.16, and 1.06 in phase 1 (d 0–11) and phase 2 (d 11–20.5). FP was decreased primarily through the addition of soy protein concentrate (SPC) and the reduction of soybean meal (SBM). In experiment 2, 144 pigs (~21 d of age; initial BW = 4.7 ± 0.7 kg, 8 reps/trt, 3 pigs/pen) were blocked by weight and randomly allotted to one of 6 treatments with FP levels of 1.30, 1.24, 1.20, 1.15, 1.11, and 1.07 for phase 1 (d 0–7) and 1.22, 1.17, 1.13, 1.08, 1.03, and 0.99 for phase 2 (d 7–21). FP was decreased through the incremental replacement of soybean meal with hydrothermal mechanical processed (HTM) SBM. For both experiments, performance data was analyzed as a general linear model. Mortality and removal (M&R) and stool quality were analyzed as generalized linear mixed models, with a binomial or multinomial distribution, respectively. For experiment 1 (Table 1), the reduction in FP with SPC increased ADFI, decreased gain:feed, and reduced the probability of M&R from trial. For experiment 2 (Table 2), reduction of FP with HTM SBM linearly increased ADG, gain:feed, and probability of visually observing a more normal stool. A quadratic effect of reducing FP was also detected for ADG and ADFI. In conclusion, these two experiments highlight that reducing diet FP can influence health and performance of pigs.