Influence of husbandry and control measures on porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV-2) dynamics within a farrow-to-finish pig farm: A modelling approach

Authored by M Andraud, N Rose, B Grasland, J S Pierre, A Jestin, F Madec

Date Published: 2009

DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2009.07.009

Sponsors: No sponsors listed

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: Other Narrative Mathematical description

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

We assessed, using a modelling approach, the influence of several management practices within a farrow-to-finish farm on the age of PCV-2 infection. The impact of PCV-2 vaccination with different vaccination schemes on infection dynamics, was also tested. A stochastic individual-based model describing the population dynamics in a typical French farrow-to-finish pig farm was built and coupled with an epidemiological model of PCV-2 infection. The parameters of the infectious model were mainly obtained from previous transmission experiments. Results were subjected to a survival analysis of time-to-infection. For each comparison, the reference situation was no vaccination followed by random mixing of piglets after birth and after weaning. The risk of early infection was significantly reduced when mixing of piglets was reduced at different stages (avoiding cross-fostering and grouping piglets by litters in small pens after weaning, hazard ratio (HR) = 0.52 {[}0.46; 0.59]). Sow-targeted vaccination delayed the infectious process until the waning of passive immunity and piglet-targeted vaccination considerably decreased the force of infection leading to a dramatic decrease of the total number of infections (HR = 0.44 {[}0.37; 0.54]). The effect was even more pronounced when strict management measures were applied (HR = 0.24 {[}0.19; 0.31]). Changing from a low (3\%) prevalence of PCV-2-infected semen to a higher one (18\%) significantly increased the risk of early infections (HR = 1.36 {[}1.2; 1.53]), whereas reducing replacement rate or changing sow housing from individual crates to group housing had a limited impact on PCV-2 dynamics. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tags

Vaccination Simulation-model Risk-factors Multisystemic wasting syndrome Syndrome virus prrsv Respiratory-disease complex Syndrome pmws Experimental-infection Nephropathy syndrome Pcr detection