MISCELLANEOUS

• Bioterrorism and infectious animal diseases.
• Controlling new and emerging pig diseases.
• A world of new diseases.
• Cost of production.
• Swine production.
• Metamorphosis underway in Mexico.
• Europe counts its sows.
• La productivité des truies est-elle un critère important? (Sow productivity: an important criterium?).
• Relations entre réactions comportamentales et productivité chez la truie. Etude et validation d’un test dans 24 élevages naisseurs-engraisseurs hors-sol (Relationships between the behavioral response and productivity of sows. Study and validation of a test in 24 farrow-to-finish French herds).
• Understanding and managing seasonal infertility.
• How to correctly diagnose the causes of reproductive failures.
• Development of an enzyme immunoassay for the determination of porcine haptoglobin in various body fluids: testing the significance of meat juice measurements for quality monitoring programs.
• Abattage des porcs et qualités des carcasses et viandes (pig slaughtering and meat and carcass quality).
• The understanding of gene markers.
• Four-year study of lameness in piglets at a research station.
• Monitoring herds: serological variability, accuracy and reliability.

Bioterrorism and infectious animal diseases.
CHARREYRE C
Comparative Immunology Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 2003, volume 26, 431-443
Which pathogens could be used by bioterrorists and to what extent are they a risk for animal health and production and human health? The authors address this issue giving a description of the main candidate pathogens, analyzing which could be the consequences of an epidemic and reporting the few measures of prevention available. Some glances at history make this paper all the more interesting.

Controlling new and emerging pig diseases.
DONE SH
International Pig Topics, 2003, Volume 18, N°8, 7-10
Why and how new viral diseases are emerging in pigs and how can these pathogens be controlled? The pathogen-host-environment triangle undergoes a continuous evolution which opens the gate to new diseases. Influenza viruses are a typical example of how a pathogen can evolve, genetic improvement modifies the host the pathogen deals with and new management practices changes the environment the host lives in. Moreover, the continuous expansion of both the human and domestic animal populations into the areas of wilderness brings about the emergence of previously locally contained pathogens. In any case, it is essential not to overlook any finding even though practical benefit might not be immediately foreseen: all information available on the non-pathogenic PCV1 were indeed very useful when PCV2 made its entrance. In spite of all regulations and available tools swine herds remain vulnerable and the recent outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease and classical swine fever in the United Kingdom clearly illustrate it. In each case, when dealing with a disease, finding a good economical cost/benefit balance is the overriding factor to consider. To do so, the author underlines the key role of diagnostic laboratories and the importance of always developing diagnostic tests, prophylactic means and therapeutic tools.

A world of new diseases.
DONE S
Pig International, 2003, Volume 33, N°8, 27-30
The emergence of new diseases affecting pigs has been going on without a respite for the last decade and will probably not soften. Several causes such as climate warming and nutritional factors (antioxidants, mycotoxins) are mentioned. Previously “present but silent” pathogens have turned to significant issues (PMWS), showing that the balance between host and pathogens has changed. Other pathogens, such as swine influenza virus, can rapidly recombine, evolve and change host, continent or country. In addition, swine seem to play a pivotal role of “mixing vessel” between wildlife, domestic poultry, wildfowl and also humans. The multifactorial aspect of these new diseases makes them even more difficult to control. The example of PCV2 and PMWS is particularly eloquent, even if all PMWS-affected pigs are PCV2-positive, concomitant infections with PPV or PRRSV have been shown to clearly have a negative impact on the disease’s development. Problems also emerge from PRRSV strains. They have been identified as American or European strains, but such a geographical distribution does not seem to be strictly valid anymore and is further complicated by the circulation of vaccinal strains. The challenge of swine professionals is to keep pace with emerging diseases trying to identify the causative agents in order to better control them.

Cost of production.
MALAKOWSKY S
Allen D. Leman Swine Conference 2003: 154-155
The author considers as essential for producers to know exactly what their cost of production is in order to understand where they stand within the industry and be able to make informed decisions on their operation. Several tables of benchmarks are included.

Swine production.
PLAIN RL, LAWRENCE JD
Vet. Clin. Food Anim., 2003, Volume 19, 319-337
This paper reviews the evolution of swine production in the US in the last decades and confirms the inevitable move towards new production systems and new technology with a decline of the number of pig producers, a shift to large hog operations and a strong trend of producers to sign marketing contracts with packers.

Metamorphosis underway in Mexico.
Pig progress, 2003, volume 19, n°2
The Mexican pork industry is changing with a trend towards a major concentration of pig farms (58% of the total production is concentrated in four states), with larger and more vertically integrated pork operations that cover the entire swine cycle, feed production, marketing and distribution. This evolution takes place to the detriment of smaller operations which have to deal with major feed costs due to the use commercial feed instead of manufacturing their own. A 11% increase of the national pig meat production was observed in 2001 when compared to 2000.

Europe counts its sows.
Pig International, 2003, Volume 33, N°7, 43-44

European Union on-farm pig populations (x1000 pigs) in December 2002 and percentage change from December 2001
Country	Total pigs	%	Sows	%
Germany	26172	+0.8	2527	+0.2
Spain	23112	-2.2	2553	-0.2
France	15271	-0.4	1361	+1.0
Denmark	12879	-0.7	1375	+2.0
Netherlands	11154	-3.1	1140	-1.8
Italy	9166	+9.0	751	+3.0
Belgium/Lux.	6676	-2.6	675	-0.9
UK	5330	-6.3	586	-3.9
Austria	3305	-3.9	332	-2.3
Portugal	2300	-3.7	312	-3.5
Sweden	1989	+3.6	215	+0.3
Ireland	1782	+1.1	183	-2.1
Finland	1423	-2.1	185	+1.8
Greece	903	+4.9	156	+14.7

Countries with decreased sow number and percentage change since 1992
UK	-34%
Netherlands	-27.6%
Germany	-15.5%
Portugal	-11.9%
Belgium/Luxembourg	-11.3%
Austria	-7.8%
Sweden	-7.7%

Countries with increased sow number and percentage change since 1992
Finland	+31.2%
Spain	+21.6%
Denmark	+19.7%
Italy	+8.7%
France	+7.4%
Ireland	+6.4%
Greece	+4.7%

La productivité des truies est-elle un critère important? (Sow productivity: an important criterium?).
BADOUARD B
Porc Magazine 2003 avril: 62-64
The profit generated by a swine operation is determined by the difference between the sale price and the production cost per kilogram of carcass. By increasing the number of pigs produced per sow per year (productivity), a herd manager reduces the production costs. A recent survey carried out in 300 French herds shows that the mean production cost is 1.363€/kg (corresponding to a productivity of 19.6 piglets/sow/year and a basic cost of 0.401€/kg) while the mean sale price was 1.274€/kg. Only 25% of the herds included in this study has achieved a production cost inferior to the mean sale price. Achieving high technical performance is considered here as the only actual means for an already settled swine producer to reduce his production costs. An example of relationship between productivity and production costs is included: a herd with a productivity of 17.1 piglets/sow/year reaches a basic cost of 0.459€/kg while a herd with a productivity of 22.1 piglets/sow/year reaches a basic cost of 0.355€/kg with a clear impact on overall production costs.

Relations entre réactions comportamentales et productivité chez la truie. Etude et validation d’un test dans 24 élevages naisseurs-engraisseurs hors-sol (Relationships between the behavioral response and productivity of sows. Study and validation of a test in 24 farrow-to-finish French herds).
LENEVEU P, FABLET C, ROBERT F, POMMIER P, JOSSO JP
Revue Méd. Vét., 2003, Volume154, N°7, 469-476
This study was based on a simple test which consists in moving the hand near to the snout of a sow and observing its reaction. Sows that did not try to avoid contact were considered as confident. An average level of fear of humans was determined for each herd. The higher the level of fear is, the lower is the number of weaned piglets per sow per year and the longer is the fecondant mating weaning interval. The automation of feeding has obviously led stockpersons to be less present within the herd and has led sows to associate humans only to rather negative events (vaccination, handling). This study shows that the human-animal relationship is not to be overlooked and significantly influences reproductive performance.

Understanding and managing seasonal infertility.
KIRKWOOD R
Allen D. Leman Swine Conference 2003: 164-168
Delayed puberty, prolonged wean-to-estrus intervals and reduction in farrowing rates are the main manifestations of seasonal infertility which primarily affects primiparous sows. Some management practices such as early weaning, improved nutritional quality diet and appropriate boar contact reduce the impact of seasonal infertility. An inadequate nutrient intake during lactation induces several variations in the endocrine system linked to insulin, GH, cortisol and glucagon which globally result in an inappropriate metabolic status for fertility and pregnancy. Care should also be taken to meet the increased energy requirement due to lower temperatures. The importance of the PGE:PGF ratio is also addressed as well as the role of LH in the maintaining of pregnancy and in the helping of ovarian recovery during lactation. Several strategies are proposed to limit seasonal infertility and consist in increasing lactation nutrient intake, reducing the litter size of young sows through cross-fostering, other approaches are injections of gonadotropins or GnRH at breeding in primiparous sows.

How to correctly diagnose the causes of reproductive failures.
KNUDSEN N
Swine practitioners, 2003, July/August
This paper is based on the presentation made by Michael Yaeger and Kent Schwartz at the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association Winter Conference and relative to cases of reproductive failures in swine. The first approach to reproductive failures is to determine whether the cause is infectious or noninfectious. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) accounted for 87% of all infectious causes of abortion submitted to the Iowa State University, leaving only a small percentage to bacterial agents (7%). However, abortions due to bacteria were in most cases isolated animals within the herd and less than 1% of the cases due to bacteria were herd-wide problems. The best diagnostic approach consists in combining diagnostic testing and review of the herd records to have a comprehensive understanding of the situation. In noninfectious reproductive failures, it is necessary to determine whether the problem comes from conception failure or pregnancy failure in order to implement the more suitable protocol. Nutrition and sow condition were pointed out by the authors as the two major factors affecting return to estrus, conception rates and litter size. On the other hand, mycotoxins in the feed are clearly considered as having no blame in reproductive failures.

Development of an enzyme immunoassay for the determination of porcine haptoglobin in various body fluids: testing the significance of meat juice measurements for quality monitoring programs.
HISS S, KNURA-DESZCZKA S, REGULA G, HENNIES M, GYMNICH S, PETERSEN B, SAUERWEIN H
Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology, 2003, Volume 96, 73-82
The enzyme immunoassay which development is reported in this paper allows the determination of porcine haptoglobin (Hp), an acute phase protein (APP), in meat juice and represents therefore a useful tool to assess the health status of an animal and meat quality at slaughter.

Abattage des porcs et qualités des carcasses et viandes (pig slaughtering and meat and carcass quality).
MONIN G
INRA Prod. Anim., 2003, Volume 16, N°4, 251-262
For pig slaughtering plants lowering the costs has always been a key to making profit but increasing meat quality is becoming an important challenge. Pre-slaughter operations greatly influence meat quality and represent an interesting part of the process to work on. A more comprehensive understanding of the effect of every single parameter is needed but stress before slaughter should always be the main issue to address. The author reviews the steps of the entire process (transport, housing, stunning, killing and postmortem changes of muscles) and also underlines the influence of carcass chilling on meat quality.

The understanding of gene markers.
Technical team of PIC Inc
International Pig Topics, 2003, Volume 18, N°2, 7-9
What are gene markers? How can they be useful to the swine sector? The performance of an animal greatly depends on its genome and the identification of one or more genes of economic interest allows us, through genetic tests, to implement beneficial selection programs. This approach has largely been illustrated with the halothane gene which allowed to eliminate the stress gene from the female lines. Other traits can be subjected to marker assisted selection (MAS), such as lean production, disease resistance or litter size. Gene markers for disease resistance have already allowed to reduce the occurrence of edema disease caused by Escherichia coli F18 and represent a field of great interest. However, traits with lower levels of heritability respond to a minor extent to this approach (meat quality, reproduction). A list of commercially available genetic tests is provided.

Four-year study of lameness in piglets at a research station.
ZORIC M, STERN S, LUNDEHEIM N, WALLGREN P
Veterinary Record, 2003, Volume 153, 323-328
A total of 9411 liveborn piglets were included in this study carried out at a research station in Sweden during a four-year period. Arthritis was defined as lameness and/or visibly swollen joints and analyzed statistically in relation to age, sex, weight at birth, parity, litter size, health status of dam, age of iron injection and calendar month. Lameness was diagnosed in 9.8% of the piglets. The first three weeks of life represented the higher risk incidence of lameness which greatly decreases after weaning. Neither significant difference in the incidence of arthritis between gilts and barrows neither relationship with weight at birth were demonstrated. In contrast, a significant influence of parity of sow was recorded. Experienced dams of parity 4 had significantly lower incidence of lameness among their piglets than gilts and younger sows. However, lameness was more frequent in piglets born to sows of parity 8 and 9. In addition, litters with 12 or more piglets were more affected by arthritis than those with less than 12 piglets. The prevalence of arthritis was also higher in the coldest months of the year. No significant relationship could be demonstrated for the other foregoing factors.

Monitoring herds: serological variability, accuracy and reliability.
TORREMORELL M
Allen D. Leman Swine Conference 2003: 99-102
Serological tests are not and cannot be perfect tools with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. When monitoring herds one should be aware of the limitations of the serological tests he uses and know how to overcome them. When in doubt or when the results of a test may have severe consequences on the herd, a strategy consists in retesting the population with the same test or with another test that uses different physical properties. It is also possible to increase the sample size or to change the frequency of sampling. However, when implementing a monitoring program it is necessary to consider the costs and to have a comprehensive understanding of how to interpret the results.