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Influence of porcine circovirus type 2 vaccination on the probability and severity of pneumonia detected postmortem
Author(s) -
Raith J.,
Kuchling S.,
Schleicher C.,
Schobesberger H.,
Köfer J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
veterinary record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 2042-7670
pISSN - 0042-4900
DOI - 10.1136/vr.102755
Subject(s) - porcine circovirus , vaccination , pneumonia , medicine , odds ratio , veterinary medicine , virology , virus
To evaluate the influence of porcine circovirus type 2 vaccination (PCV‐2) on the probability and severity of pneumonia, postmortem findings of 247,505 pigs slaughtered between 2008 and 2011 were analysed by applying a cumulative link mixed model. Three major effects could be observed: (1) PCV‐2 vaccination significantly (P<0.01) reduced the odds (coefficient: −0.05) of postmortem findings of mild, moderate and severe pneumonia for vaccinated pigs. (2) Pigs from fattening farms were less likely (coefficient: −0.44; P<0.05) to exhibit signs of pneumonia at slaughter than pigs from farrow‐to‐finish farms. (3) When vaccinated, the odds of detecting postmortem signs showed an even more pronounced reduction (coefficient: −0.19; P<0.001) for pigs from fattening farms. Combining PCV‐2 vaccination, farm type and interaction effects between these two factors, a pig vaccinated against PCV‐2 from a fattening farm had only half the chance (OR 0.51) of pneumonia being detected at postmortem than a non‐vaccinated pig from a farrow‐to‐finish farm. The study demonstrates the benefit of a vaccination programme against PCV‐2 as an important tool to reduce the risk of postmortem pneumonia findings and the severity of pneumonia in pigs at slaughter.