AASV 2014

1. Abstract accepted for 45th AASV Meeting, Dallas, Texas, March 1-4, 2014
MERIAL Momentum – 23rd IPVS Congress, Cancun, Mexico, June 8th-11th 2014
Improvement of herd performance parameters
after piglet and sow vaccination against PCV2
Thaïs Vila1, DVM, Hridto Stoykov2, DVM, Milena Sevastiyanova3, DVM, Han Smits1, DVM, MSc, François Joisel1 DVM, MSc, Olivier Merdy1, MSc
1MERIAL SAS, Lyon, France, 2 Brashlen farm, Bulgaria, 3MERIAL Austria, Vienna
Introduction
Porcine circovirus diseases (PCVD) or porcine circovirus associated diseases (PCVAD) have been dramatically impairing the economical results of the swine industry from the mid-nineties. CIRCOVAC® has been the first registered PCV2 vaccine in the world. From the end of 2004 it has been successfully used in sows in farms with clinical signs of PMWS1 as well as in farms where PCV2 manifestation was sub-clinical and limited to sub- optimal performances both in reproduction and in piglet growth and non-specific mortality.2 Since 2010, CIRCOVAC has also been registered for piglet vaccination and largely used in the field. This paper reports the field experience of a Bulgarian farm who has used the full herd vaccination programme (piglet and sow) for more than 4 years and the benefits observed over time.
Case history
The case study was conducted in Bulgaria in a 2,700-sow farrow-to finish herd, with only one genetic breed with 4-day farrowing-batch management. Pig flows were managed strictly all in/all out. The herd is free of PRRSV and positive for Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and App. Furthermore, sows are vaccinated against parvovirus and erysipelas with PARVORUVAX®. Despite good overall performance, some remaining heterogeneity in piglets, a slight increase of mortality rate in the fattening unit (+2%) and a few PDNS cases were reported. Laboratory investigations displayed positive antibody results for PCV2 and no other specific pathogens, so a subclinical form of PCV2 infection was suspected. Consequently, the technical team of the farm decided to vaccinate piglets against PCV2. Piglets were vaccinated with CIRCOVAC at 28-30 days of age, 0.5ml, IM once, from February 2009. Reproductive performance of the farm was considered as lower than the benchmark of the breed. After an audit of all other aspects of reproduction management that did not show any particular issue, sow vaccination against PCV2 was tested. A mass sow vaccination with CIRCOVAC, 2ml IM, was then carried out twice, 3 weeks apart, in August 2009. Injections were performed regardless from the reproductive stage and the first mass vaccination campaign was followed by routine booster injections 2 weeks prior to farrowing. In the same vaccination program, replacement gilts were vaccinated twice, 3 weeks apart before mating and revaccinated 2 weeks before farrowing. From the 1st batch of piglets born to vaccinated sows, by precaution, PCV2 vaccination was delayed at 7 weeks of age to escape any potential interference with maternal immunity. Average parameters were calculated using AgroSoft software. Average values of each parameter were compared between 2009, 2010 and 2011 periods by Dunett two-side test.
Results
Homogeneity of pigs and growth parameters were significantly improved thanks to piglet vaccination. In addition to that, sow vaccination increased even more the growth performance from weaning to slaughter. Consequently, the age at 100 kg bodyweight was reduced: by 4 days with piglet vaccination only and by 5.3 days with the full herd vaccination programme, compared to before PCV2 vaccination. The financial impact of only this parameter has been estimated to be €4.3/pig . Reproductive parameters were sharply improved just after the setup of sow vaccination and kept improving over time even though the farm already had a very good reproductive performance level. As an example, the total number of piglets born per litter that used to be in average 13 before vaccination increased by more than 4 piglets (Figure 1). In 2013, this farm has reached a very high prolificacy: 17.8 total born piglets/litter and 12.6 weaned piglets/litter. The weight at weaning was slightly increased from 2009 to 2013 i.e. from 7.6 kg to 7.9 kg showing that it was not affected by the increase of the average number of weaned piglets/litter. Growth performance in the grower and finisher phases were significantly improved (983 before vaccination to 1060g/day with piglet and sow vaccination) and reached very high level in 2013: 1097g/d in finishers. In addition, health status of the farm was markedly stabilized thanks to PCV2 full herd vaccination programme: significant decrease of the gastric ulcers, respiratory clinical signs and of the related medication costs.

2. Abstract accepted for 45th AASV Meeting, Dallas, Texas, March 1-4, 2014
MERIAL Momentum – 23rd IPVS Congress, Cancun, Mexico, June 8th-11th 2014
Discussion - Conclusion
This case report in a 2.700-sow farm unit confirms the benefits obtained with the vaccination of piglets and sows with CIRCOVAC in a large pig farm. Using this vaccination program, the farm has reached a level of reproductive performance similar to the top 5 best Danish commercial farms using this genetics. It is important to highlight that the large size of this Bulgarian farm probably makes it more difficult to manage reproduction than in the smaller farms referenced in the top 5 farms. Return on investment of piglet vaccination against PCV2 is due to the improvement of several indexes: average daily weight gain (ADWG), percentage of underweight pigs, homogeneity of the pig weights at slaughter, feed conversion ratio (FCR). In periods when the feed price is high and when homogeneity of the pig weights are representing significant extra-value, a full control of PCV2 is a major asset for achieving the highest profitability. On top of that, PCV2 sow vaccination improves fecundity, protects embryos and foetuses during gestation and piglets in the suckling period and also improves pig growth performance from birth onward. CIRCOVAC vaccination is considered as one of the key tools of the management and competitiveness by the farm owner.
References
1. Joisel et al. (2008) 5th Emerging and re-Emerging Pig Disease, Krakow, Poland, p.127
2. Kurmann et al. (2009) Clin Vacc Immunol, 18: 1644–1649
®CIRCOVAC is a registered trade mark of Merial in the United States of America and elsewhere.