Lameness in weaned pigs associated with tetracycline overdose. A case report.

On a piglet producing farm severe lameness was observed in pigs which had been weaned 3 weeks and longer due to severe distortions of joints and claws of fore and/or hind legs. Splaying of claws as well as flexural limb deformations particularly in the carpal joints increased in degree the older and heavier the pigs were. Because of coughing in the weaners, which had started 7-8 weeks before any lameness or limb deformation had been apparent, tetracycline was applied via water as medication. During the course of an on-site investigation, a miscalculation of dosage - 129-168 mg tetracycline per kg body weight - was revealed. It was therefore suggested to the farmer and his veterinarian to immediately stop the application of tetracycline and to use a different antibiotic against the still present coughing and sneezing. During a follow-up evaluation 4 weeks later, the farmer reported a significant decrease in affected animals. While a direct correlation between the lameness in the weaned pigs and the tetracycline dosage could not be proven, the existing evidence supports the theory that the overdosage was at least a contributing factor.

Main risk factors for Salmonella-infections in pigs in north-western Germany.

Salmonellosis is one of the major zoonotic, food-borne diseases, among others, caused by pig derived food products. As infected pigs are one of the main sources of the introduction of the bacterium into the food chain, scientific research in the last years has focussed on identifying risk factors for infection as well as developing mitigation strategies on this level of production. In order to update the knowledge of the German situation by incorporating recent changes in the German pig industry, a case-control study was set up to identify the key contributing risk factors for farms located in the western part of Lower Saxony, the region with the highest pig density in Germany. Based on an extensive and systematic literature search, a comprehensive questionnaire with 302 questions concerning such topics as personnel hygiene, animal management, biosecurity, feeding management as well as cleaning and disinfection routines was utilized in a face-to-face interview on 104 case and 67 control farms. Within a stepwise forward selection process the preliminary identified factors were grouped contextually, associations between variables were calculated and multivariable logistic regression models were conducted. Identified risk factors were: the moving of individual animals during the fattening period (OR 5.3, CI 95% 1.35-20.35), not having a separate transporter for different age groups (OR 11.4, CI 95% 1.94-66.18) and pigs having contact to other animals (OR 4.3, CI 95% 1.39-12.96). The following factors were identified as being protective: not cleaning the transporter (OR 0.2, CI 95% 0.05-0.72) and not having clean boots available (OR 0.2, CI 95% 0.07-0.64). While this study was able to identify some factors which influence the Salmonella-infection of a herd, overall the process of analysis showed that the control of Salmonella on farm is due to a series of individual factors and therefore remains extremely complex.

A case-control study on the occurrence of Salmonella spp. in the environment of pigs.

The objective of this study was to compare the occurrence of Salmonella spp. found in the animal environment in pig herds with different Salmonella risks (61 herds with low seroprevalence, 81 herds with high seroprevalence) on a broad scale. The environmental samples were divided into two types: direct (n=1105) and indirect (n=1220) environmental samples. All samples were tested for Salmonella spp. via real-time polymerase chain reaction. Most of the indirect environments were more often Salmonella-positive in the high-seroprevalence herds than in the low-seroprevalence herds; significantly higher were compartment aisles [odds ratio (OR) 3·45, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·61-7·41], driving boards (OR 3·06, 95% CI 1·38-6·92) and the central aisle of the barn (OR 3·03, 95% CI 1·35-6·83). The overall results show that especially areas in the indirect environment are the major, but mostly underestimated causes of residual Salmonella.