BPEX

Call: 02476 692051

Risk factors for pig disease

Research partners: Newcastle University, SAC, Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Livestock Management Systems

Industrial partners: BPEX, NPA, Assured British Pigs, Genesis Quality Assurance, Quality Meat Scotland, Agrosoft

Sponsors: Defra

Project duration: 2006 – 2009

The objectives of this project were to develop herd health strategies for the British pig industry that will promote animal health and welfare, leading to improved productivity and to a reduced incidence of foodborne zoonoses including Salmonella.

More specifically the project will:

  1. Perform epidemiological analysis of farm risk factors for different disease conditions by integrating retrospective information from existing industry databases containing data captured in abattoir health screening with those identifying farm production characteristics
  2. Design, test and implement a web-based Pig Herd Health Plan (PHHP)
  3. Develop and pilot systems for capturing on-farm health and performance data

During the past year the merged databases from pig health monitoring schemes based on abattoir data collection and farm descriptor information from Farm Assurance schemes have been subject to final cleaning and organisation. The first analyses of the combined dataset have been made and work on the design, testing and implementation of a web-based Pig Herd Health plan (PHHP) has been completed. A protocol for capturing on-farm health and performance data has been developed, and is being piloted on 40 farms.

A first analysis for enzootic pneumonia-like lesions and pleuritic lesions has shown that the geographic location of the farm was the most significant risk factor. Use of partly slatted flooring also appeared to be a risk factor, whereas the use of solid floors with bedding seemed to be protective. Geographic location was also the main risk factor for Salmonella (ZAP score), together with the use of solid flooring for finishing pigs.

By using data collected for management purposes on individual farms in combined analyses at a national level, the industry can obtain a much better understanding of national disease patterns and risk factors. Such information can be used to inform strategic decisions of BPEX and individual producers. The use of IT systems for recording and transferring such data allows this process to occur with minimal additional labour requirement.

A demonstration PHHP can be viewed at www.demo.phhpanalysis.com