Questionnaire survey of disease prevalence and veterinary treatments in organic pig husbandry in the Netherlands

DISEASE prevalence and veterinary treatments in organic animal production differ from conventional systems. According to the European Commission (EC) regulation on organic agricultural production (EC 2004), disease prevention is based on the principles that the feeding, housing and care of the animals should limit animal health problems so that they can be controlled mainly by prevention. If, despite these preventive measurements, treatment should be necessary, phytotherapeutic and homeopathic products should be used in preference to chemically synthesised allopathic veterinary medicinal products, provided they are therapeutically effective. Chemotherapeutics may be used under the responsibility of a veterinarian, and their use must be clearly recorded. The number of chemotherapeutic treatments allowed in organic animal production is limited, except for the use of vaccines and antiparasitics, and the use of chemotherapeutics for preventive treatments is prohibited. The restrictive use of chemotherapeutics, combined with access to pasture and a closer contact with wildlife, may have an impact on animal health and welfare. Although different production systems and national disease situations may affect the health situations in organic pig production, surveys in the UK, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands indicate that endoand ectoparasites are a common and major problem in organic pig production (Nansen and Roepstorff 1999, Baumgartner and others 2001, Carstensen and others 2002, Day and others 2003, Hovi and others 2003). Physical injuries causing lameness, skin traumas and sunburn are the most common clinical findings in sows, and in slaughter pigs various herd-specific disease problems occur (Vaarst and others 2000). In Austria, a high prevalence of contagious diseases (leptospirosis, parvovirus and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome) has been observed, in addition to actinomycosis of the udder and diarrhoea in piglets (Baumgartner and others 2001). In Sweden, erysipelas is the most commonly observed disease in fattening pigs, while in France, the main diseases are neonatal and weaning diarrhoea in piglets, respiratory tract infections in slaughter pigs and urogenital infections in sows (Bénnéteau 2001). This short communication describes a study in which a questionnaire was used to gather information about diseases and practices in the use of medication to treat diseases in organic pig husbandry in the Netherlands. In spring 2003, in order to gather information about practises for disease prevalence and veterinary treatment, organic pig producers in the Netherlands were contacted. If a farm had at least 10 sows or 60 fattening pigs, the pigs were kept for commercial purposes, the farm was not a research, governmental or part-government funded centre, the farm was certificated by Skal (the inspection organisation for organic production methods in the Netherlands) in 2002, there was no poultry on the farm (in relation to the avian influenza situation in the Netherlands at that time), and the farmer agreed to cooperate, a questionnaire was sent to the premises. The questions in the questionnaire related to housing, health and veterinary treatments in 2002. A few days after the questionnaire was sent, the farm was visited to go through the completed questionnaire and to check the practises on the farm. Of the 91 organic pig farmers who were contacted, 60 fulfilled the criteria for participation in the survey; of these, 37 (62 per cent) agreed to participate. They filled in and returned the questionnaire and the farms were visited. At 30 of the 37 farms (81 per cent) there was another agrarian or non-agrarian income in addition to pig production. Twenty-one of the 37 farms (57 per cent) became SKAL certified in 2002, while the other 16 farms had been certified by SKAL for an average of 3·8 (range 1·1 to 9·0) years. All farms participated in and were certified by the Integrated Chain Control (IKB), the quality system of the Dutch meat industry. On all the farms, some form of biosecurity was employed, such as separate clean and non-clean zones (14 farms), biosecurity facilities (28 farms), the use of separate clothes and boots before entering the pig houses (36 farms), the use of disinfection mats (29 farms), and the registration of visitors (all farms). All the farms were members of an animal health service. Seven farms had breeding sows with, on average, 141 (range 45 to 350) sows and 565 (range 100 to 1200) piglets, 12 farms had fattening pigs with, on average, 228 (range 65 to 589) animals, and 18 farms had breeding sows and fattening pigs with, on average, 64 (range 15 to 150) sows, 229 (range 65 to 500) piglets and 359 (range 60 to 750) fattening pigs. On 19 of the 25 farms with breeding sows, the sows had access to a grazing area, and on the other six farms there were outdoor runs with concrete floors. On all 12 farms with fattening pigs there were partially covered outdoor runs with concrete floors. A large variety of pig breeds were used on all the farms. On the 25 farms with breeding sows, the sows were either organic and Veterinary Record (2006) 159, 816-818