04 jake waddilove

English pig production and CIRCOVAC piglet field

experience

VETERINARYGROUP

Jake Waddilove MA, VetMB, MRCVSEastgate Veterinary Group

Bury St [email protected]

The British Pig Industry

Breeding herd trends

516 514 515

475 470

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468

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436423 427

445 438455 450

460 460

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Jun-03 Jun-04 Jun-05 Jun-06 Jun-07 Jun-08 Jun-09 Jun-10 Jun-11

000 head

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BPEX

Where are all the pigs?

• 10,000 pig premises• 1600 assured farms

account for 92% production

• 35 companies account for 50% of breeding herd

• 10 companies account for c. 35% of breeding sows

How are our sows kept?

• No Stalls

• 59% of sows indoors– Sows usually confined for farrowing– Freedom/welfare crates

• 41% of sows outdoors- Sows not confined

Source: DEFRA

How are our finishers kept?

• 97% finished indoors

• 39% on fully slatted floors

• 30% on partially slatted floors

• 31% on solid floors with bedding (e.g. Straw) – Premium product

• 3% finished outdoors - Freerange

Source: Based on AFS data

UK clean pig slaughterings

14.35

12.37

10.45

9.13 8.97 8.90 9.27 9.19 8.829.78

10.7010.26

8.97

0

2

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1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011

million head

BPEX

UK clean pig carcase weights

69.1 69.2

70.8

72.172.7

74.174.7

75.1 74.9

76.276.6

78.178.9 79.1

66

68

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1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

kg

BPEX

UK pig meat production

1047

923

781 795

716 708 706 697

739 740720

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874

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1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011

000 tonnes

BPEX

UK pig prices (DAPP)

BPEX

p/kg dw

EU and UK pig meat reference prices

BPEX

UK feed prices

BPEX

Production costs vs DAPP

BPEX

Profitability in the pig chain12 week periods

BPEX

In 12 weeks to 23/1/11

• British pig producers lost £35 million

• The pork processing sector made approximately £100 million

• The retailers made a profit from sale of pork and pork products of roughly £192 million

• So what does that mean for the shape of our industry in the future?

BPEX

PCV2 Vaccination

What PCV2 Vaccination protocols do we use in our

Practice?

• 95% of herds/flows use some form of PCV2 vaccination

• Of these:• 65% use Sow vaccination only• 15% use Piglet vaccination only• 20% use Sow and Piglet vaccination• So 85% of systems use sow vaccine

Why more sow vaccination?• It works

– In Classical PCVD in weaners & growing pigs– In Late stage/Endemic PCVD

• It has other benefits– Reproductive– In farrowing and early post weaning period

• It is easier and cheaper• PCV2 status is changing on our farms – they are

becoming more stable• We learnt to manage PCVD & vaccination issues

22

• With sow vaccination it has been important to understand how immunity is transferred from the sow to the piglet

• Colostrum does not just have an antibody component

• It also has a cellular component• Best if derived from the biological mother• So needed to modify management of the sow,

the piglet and cross fostering to allow for this

Transfer of immunity

Why do we use piglet vaccination?

• New outbreaks

• Destabilised herds

• Active infection with different pathogens (eg PRRS) interferes with PCV2 immunity or immune transfer

• Poor colostrum management

Piglet vaccination Field trial 1

Material and methods• 700-sow indoor unit• Piglets were individually weighed

– at weaning (W)– at the end of the grower stage (EF) – at before slaughter (S)

• Pigs were allocated randomly to one of two vaccine groups

• Allocation of pigs was blinded to farm management• Pigs from 2 groups were individually identified

Tobin, IPVS 2010Tobin, IPVS 2010

Vaccine Groups

• Circoflex group– 91 pigs– 1 ml of Circoflex® (Boehringer Ingleheim) I/M

at weaning• Circovac group

– 100 pigs– 0.5 ml of Circovac® (Merial) I/M at weaning


Pig Flow

• On farm specialist weaner accommodation

• Piglets from 2 vaccine groups were comingled

• Off site finishing on 2 farms– deep straw bedded lose housing finishing

accommodation (Farm 1, n=74)– solid floor finishing accommodation (Farm 2,

n=114).


Material and methods

• Both vaccines were compared on:– Average Daily Weight Gain (ADG) in post-

weaning– ADG in finishing– ADG from weaning to slaughter,– weight at entry in finishing stage– slaughter weight

• Two-tailed student t-test was used to compare the different parameters of the 2 vaccines


Results - Farm 1

Circovac Circoflex Diff

ADG wean-slaughter g/day 741.4 728.9 12.4

ADG finishers g/day 929.9 919.4 10.5ADG growers g/day 560.0 547.3 12.8Weight entry finishing Kg 48.1 47.9 0.1Slaughter weight Kg 110.9 105.2 5.7*


* P < 0.05

Results – Farm 2

Circovac Circoflex Diff

ADG wean-slaughter g/day 669.2 653.1 16.1

ADWG finishers g/day 769.6 750.3 19.2

ADWG growers g/day 523.4 509.7 13.7

Weight entry finishing Kg 39.0 38.1 0.96

Slaughter weight Kg 105.3 102.6 2.7


Testing

• 20 pigs were bled at weaning and at the end of the grower stage

• Samples were tested– by qPCR for quantification of PCV2 genome

(minimum detection level 2x103/ml)– qELISA for quantification of PCV2 specific

antibodies


Results

qPCR and qELISA tests at different stages

qPCR qELISA

Positive >106 W EF S

Circovac 6.7% 0% 2,686.89 3,742.63 2,863.00

Circoflex 23.5% 5.9% 1,569.63 1,088.95 3,172.41

W: weaningEF: entry in fatteningS: slaughter

W: weaningEF: entry in fatteningS: slaughter


Testing comments

• Both groups had high titres of antibodiesat weaning

• PCR– All pigs tested were negative at weaning and at the

end of the grower stage– % of sampled pigs positive before slaughter

• 23.5% of those vaccinated with Circoflex • 6.7% of those vaccinated with Circovac

– 1 pig in the group Circoflex above 106 PCV2 genome copies

– Note difference not associated with disease


Discussion

• Due to the small number of animals involved in this study it was not possible to show a statistical difference– except for slaughter weight in farm 1

• ADWG at all stages of production and the slaughter weight always slightly higher in Circovac vaccinated groups in both finishers

• Circoflex had a slightly higher level of viraemia– but this was not associated to disease


Piglet vaccination trial 2

Material• 750 sow farrow-to-finish unit

• Farrowing was by room

• Pigs were age-segregated by room in slatted accommodation through to approximately 15 weeks of age.

• They were then placed in mixed age finishing accommodation.

Waddilove, APVS 2011

Unit health profile

• High disease burden in the rearing herd including PCVD, PRRS, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and various secondary bacterial

• High levels of respiratory disease, wean to finish mortality ~8%, poor growth rates and high levels of treatment for respiratory disease.


Control measures

• PRRS – vaccinated sows and pigs with PRRS-MLV

vaccine

• PCV2 – vaccinated sows and piglets

• M. Hyopneumoniae– Vaccinated piglets

• Various strategies of antibiotic treatment


Methods

• Each litter randomly allocated into equal groups

• Blinded from farm staff• Identified with ear tags at weaning• Weighed at weaning,10 weeks and 25

weeks• A t-test and a Chi2 test was applied to

compare the average daily gain results and the mortality rate respectively


Vaccination

• Vaccinated for PCV2 at weaning (23-25 days of age). – Half of each litter received 0.5ml Circovac®

(Merial) by intramuscular injection– Half of each litter received 1.0ml Circoflex®

(Boehringer Ingleheim) by intramuscular injection.


Results

Circovac CircoflexNumber 344 353

ADG Wean – Finish (gm) 540 536ADG Wean – Grower (gm) 436 436ADG Grower – Finish (gm) 593 585

Mortality (%) 3.5 4.5


No Significant Differences

Discussion

• Under commercial conditions• High disease burden including PCVD• No significant difference in growth rates and

mortality levels between piglets vaccinated with 0.5ml Circovac or 1.0ml Circoflex.

• Numerical benefits in growth rate and mortality for Circovac vaccinated pigs were observed.


Conclusions

• 2 trials

• Both in normal field conditions in commercial herds

• No significant difference between vaccinating pigs with 1ml Circoflex or 0.5ml Circovac

• In both trials some numerical advantages to the Circovac vaccinated pigs

And a final thought

• How well do combination vaccines work?

• Here is some data from the British slaughter house survey

Apical lobe consolidation(EP like lesions)

Group 1 using mixed M hyo and PCV2 vaccine10,000 sowsGroup 2 using PCV2 sow vaccination and M+PAC or Stellamune 24,000 sows

Group 3 using PCV2 Circovac piglet vaccination and M+PAC 5000 sows

Group 1 using mixed M hyo and PCV2 vaccine10,000 sowsGroup 2 using PCV2 sow vaccination and M+PAC or Stellamune 24,000 sows

Group 3 using PCV2 Circovac piglet vaccination and M+PAC 5000 sows

Thank you

04 jake waddilove

Health & Medicine

vaccination of sows

use sow vaccination

use piglet vaccination

circoflex circovac

circoflex tobin

finishing adg

slaughter gday

weaning tobin