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Electrical stimulation has emerged as a promising technique to save crushed piglets. But only the individual parameter of electrical stimulation was considered in the excessive response of sows. In this study, a systematic investigation was conducted to determine the response of the effectiveness and startle index of sows under different body positions and stimulated voltages. An evaluation was made to clarify the electrical stimulation on the production performance of sows. The field experiment was conducted at a farrowing house in Shandong Province, China, between November and December of 2022. A total of 72 healthy first-born sows were selected and then randomly assigned to 12 treatment groups, with six sows in each group. The waist, flank, and thigh root were selected as the stimulated positions. Electrical stimulation was applied at voltages of 1200, 1600, 2000, and 2400 V, resulting in a total of 12 treatments. The hair was removed from the stimulated positions of all experimental sows, in order to ensure that the positive and negative electrodes of the electrical stimulation device were in close contact with the pig's skin. An electrical stimulation was administered, when the sow side lying. Their body behaviors (lie, sit, stand, and jump) and sounds (silent, grunt, bark, squeal, and bite) were synchronously recorded by a mobile phone camera. An optimal combination was determined for the most appropriate electrical stimulated position and stimulated voltage. The feed intake and growth rate of piglets were measured to verify the impact of appropriate electrical stimulation on the production performance of sows. Two treatment groups of five sows were randomly assigned to the total of 10 healthy first-born sows with a minimum of 12 functional nipples. The newborn piglets were fostered within the first 24 hours after birth. There was no significant difference in the litter weights (P>0.05). Furthermore, the electrical stimulation was applied daily on each lying sow between 08:00-17:00 in the treatment group within the first three days post-partum. There was no intervention in the control group. All sows were fed three times per day from day 8 to 21 of the lactation (weaning age). The results demonstrate that the effective response rate and the startle index of the test sows showed an upward trend, as the voltage increased. The effective response rate of the test sows was below 50% at stimulated voltages of 1200 and 1600 V. However, the effective response rate exceeded 75% in 2000 and 2400 V. Compared with the voltage of 1 200 V, the probability of effective response of the sows under these voltages (2000 and 2400 V) increased by about 21.645 and 52.366 times, respectively, which was extremely significant (P<0.01). The effective response rate of the waist was 70.8% for the stimulated positions, which was higher than the flank and thigh root by 20.8%. The probability of effective response of the waist was nearly 3 times higher than the flank. Lower voltage was negligible to stimulate the standing response of sows. But, the maximum startle index of the sows exceeded 60% at a stimulated voltage of 2400 V. It inferred that the risk of stress reactions of saws increased their production performance. The maximum startle index was lower than 60% at 2000 V. Therefore, electrical stimulation of 2000 V can be recommended to place the electrical stimulation device on the waist, according to the effective response and startle index. The production experiment demonstrated that the feed intake per day (5.50 kg) and weaning litter weight (58.91 kg) of the experimental group under the appropriate electrical stimulation parameters were slightly higher than the control group, which were the average daily feed intake (5.45 kg) and weaning litter weight (58.42 kg). But the differences were not significant (P>0.05). The appropriate parameters (2000 V, waist) had no statistically significant effect on the reproductive performance of sows. These findings can provide valuable reference and data support for the development and application of equipment to rescue piglets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pseudorabies (PR), also called Aujeszky's disease (AD), is a highly infectious viral disease which is caused by pseudorabies virus (PRV). It has been nearly 200 years since the first PR case occurred. Currently, the virus can infect human beings and various mammals, including pigs, sheep, dogs, rabbits, rodents, cattle and cats, and among them, pigs are the only natural host of PRV infection. PRV is characterized by reproductive failure in pregnant sows, nervous disorders in newborn piglets, and respiratory distress in growing pigs, resulting in serious economic losses to the pig industry worldwide. Due to the extensive application of the attenuated vaccine containing the Bartha-K61 strain, PR was well controlled. With the variation of PRV strain, PR re-emerged and rapidly spread in some countries, especially China. Although researchers have been committed to the design of diagnostic methods and the development of vaccines in recent years, PR is still an important infectious disease and is widely prevalent in the global pig industry. In this review, we introduce the structural composition and life cycle of PRV virions and then discuss the latest findings on PRV pathogenesis, following the molecular characteristic of PRV and the summary of existing diagnosis methods. Subsequently, we also focus on the latest clinical progress in the prevention and control of PRV infection via the development of vaccines, traditional herbal medicines and novel small RNAs. Lastly, we provide an outlook on PRV eradication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We investigated the effect of replacing normal corn (NC) or normal wheat bran (NW) with moldy corn (MC) or moldy wheat bran (MW) on growth, ovarian follicular reserves, and oxidative status. Methods: Sixty-three Landrace × Yorkshire gilts were assigned to seven diets formulated by using MC to replace 0% (control), 25% (25% MC), 50% (50% MC), 75% (75% MC), and 100% NC (100% MC), MW to replace 100% NW (100% MW), and MC and MW to replace 100% NC and 100% NW (100% MC + MW), from postnatal day 110 to day 19 of the second estrous cycle. Results: Feeding the gilts with MC or MW induced a lower average daily gain at days 29–56 of the experiment. Age at puberty remained unchanged, but MC inclusion resulted in a linear decrease in antral follicles with diameter >3.0 mm, and control gilts had a 12.7 more large antral follicles than gilts in the 100% MC + MW treatment. MC inclusion linearly decreased the numbers of primordial follicles, growing follicles, and corpora lutea, associated with a lower anti-Müllerian hormone level in serum and 17β-estradiol level in follicular fluid. MC inclusion decreased the serum concentrations of insulin-like growth factor 1 and its mRNA levels in the liver, combined with higher malondialdehyde concentration and lower total superoxide dismutase activities in serum and liver. Conclusion: Chronic exposure to MC-containing diets caused the loss of follicles, even if levels of deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, and aflatoxin B1 were below the levels allowed by China and Europe standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toroviruses (ToVs), closely related but genetically distinct from coronaviruses, are known to infect horses, cows, pigs, goats and humans, mainly causing enteritic disorders. However, due to the lack of an adaptive culture system, porcine ToV (PToV) has received less attention. In this study, we developed a novel serological detection method based on the PToV envelope spike subunit 1 (S1) protein for the first time, and compared it to an existing indirect enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on the nucleocapsid protein. By using the S1‐based ELISA, we carried out the first seroepidemiological survey of PToV in China, assaying both specific IgG and IgA responses in 1,037 serum samples collected from diarrheic pigs in eastern China. There was a relatively high incidence of seropositivity in pigs of different ages, especially one‐week‐old piglets and sows (78% and 43%), the former probably reflecting maternal antibodies. Furthermore, 3/20 (15%) of faecal samples collected from one PToV‐seropositive swine herd in Zhejiang province tested positive by RT‐PCR. The complete PToV genome was sequenced from one of these samples, and its phylogenetic relationship with other full‐length PToV sequences available in GenBank was determined. Our data provide the first serological evidence for PToV infection in pigs from China, which will help elucidate the potential pathogenicity of PToV in pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hog industry is the core industry in the field of agriculture and animal husbandry in China, which development is related to the improvement of people's quality of life. The production of the hog industry has been restricted by environmental regulations, which needs to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Based on the data of 29 provinces from 2008 to 2019, this paper aims to use the stochastic frontier analysis method to calculate the cost efficiency of fattening pigs, sows, and piglets in three stages of pig production and focuses on the impact of environmental regulation policies on cost efficiency. The study found that the cost efficiency of fattening pigs, sows, and piglets in China were 0.77, 0.79, and 0.53, respectively, and the efficiency losses were 23%, 21%, and 47%, respectively. The impact of environmental regulation policies on the cost efficiency of fattening pigs showed an ' N ' trend, and the impact on the cost efficiency of sows and piglets showed an inverted ' N ' trend. For fattening pigs, increasing the intensity of environmental regulation, and exceeding the second inflection point of the ' N ' curve can achieve the dual goals of environmental governance and cost reduction and efficiency increase. For sows, reducing the intensity of environmental regulation appropriately can avoid cost-efficiency loss. For piglets, environmental regulation policies have not effectively incentives the cost efficiency of piglets. In addition, raising the level of technology investment in fattening pigs and sows can achieve cost efficiency gains, and can farmers use emerging financial product tools such as ' insurance + futures ' to avoid market risks and efficiency losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Candida is the common conditionally pathogenic fungus that infected human and animal clinically. C. tropicalis had been isolated from the skin and hair of healthy pigs, but with no report of fatal infection in gastrointestinal diseases. Case presentation: In a pig farm in Henan Province of China, about 20 % of pregnant and postpartum sows suffered from severe gastrointestinal diseases, with a mortality rate higher than 60 % in the diseased animals. The sows had gastrointestinal symptoms such as blood in stool and vomiting. Necropsy revealed obvious gastric ulcers, gastrointestinal perforation, and intestinal hemorrhage in the gastrointestinal tract, but no lesions in other organs. The microbial species in gastric samples collected from gastric ulcer of the diseased sows then was initially identified as Candida by using routine systems of microscopic examination, culture characteristics on the medium Sabouraud dextrose agar medium. The fungus was further identified as C. tropicalis by species-specific PCR and sequencing. This study revealed an infection of C. tropicalis in sows through gastrointestinal mucosa could cause fatal digestive system disease and septicemia. Conclusions: For the first time, a strain of C. tropicalis was isolated and identified from the gastric tissue of sows with severe gastrointestinal diseases. PCR and sequencing of ITS-rDNA combined with morphology and histopathological assay were reliable for the identification of Candida clinically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new highly virulent swine acute diarrhoea syndrome coronavirus (SADS‐CoV) emerged in Guangdong province in 2017 followed by fatal diarrhoea that involved the death of 24,693 piglets. And yet from May 2017 to January 2019, there were no new SADS cases arising in pig herds in Guangdong. In this study, we reported the recent diarrhoea outbreak of SADS‐CoV in Southern China on February 2019. Intestinal samples collected from diarrhoeal piglets were detected for common swine virus and confirmed that SADS‐CoV was responsible for the diarrhoea case. Meanwhile, serological investigation of sows' sera implied that SADS‐CoV has existed in the farm and PEDV antibody may not directly contribute to the amplification of SADS‐CoV. Homology and phylogenetic analysis of the whole genome showed that the re‐emerging SADS‐CoV strain shared high sequence identities with existing SADS‐CoV strains and all strains clustered together in Alpha coronavirus. All in all, the report herein emphasized the re‐emerging of SADS‐CoV and highlights continuous monitoring for this virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The prevalence of PDCoV was high in Henan pigs and the novel virus can infect sows. • The complete genomes of 4 representative PDCoV Henan strains were sequenced. • The PDCoV Henan strains were grouped within the Chinese clade. • The PDCoV strains from Henan might evolve from the latest Chinese epidemic strains. Abstract Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is a novel porcine enteric coronavirus that causes diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration in piglets. This newly virus has spread rapidly and has caused serious economic losses for pig industry since the outbreak in USA in 2014. In this study, 430 faecal and intestinal samples (143 faecal samples and 287 intestinal samples) were collected from individual pigs with diarrhea and 211 serum samples were also collected from the sows with mild diarrhea in 17 regions in Henan province, China from April 2015 to March 2018. The RT-PCR detection indicated that the infection of PDCoV was high up to 23.49% (101/430), and co-infection with PEDV were common (60.40%, 61/101) in Henan pigs. The prevalence of PDCoV in suckling piglets was the highest (36.43%, 94/258). We also found that PDCoV could be detected in sows faeces and sera while the sows showed mild, self-limited diarrhea in clinic. The complete genomes of 4 PDCoV Henan strains (CH-01, HNZK-02, HNZK-04, HNZK-06) were sequenced and analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis based on the complete genome, spike and nucleocapsid gene sequences revealed that the PDCoV Henan strains were closely related to other PDCoV reference strains that located in the Chinese clade. Furthermore, the phylogenetic analysis showed PDCoV CH-01 strain was closely related to CHN-HB-2014 strain and HKU15-44 strain, while the other PDCoV Henan strains were more related to PDCoV CHJXNI2 and CH-SXD1-2015 strains, indicating that the ancestor of these sequenced strains may different. These results would support the understanding of the prevalence and evolution characteristics of PDCoV in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During lactation period, body mass and backfat loss of lactating sows were relatively severe, improving the feed intake of lactating sows is the key to improving performance of lactating sows and piglets. With the rapid development of large-scale and intensive breeding pig farms in China, the demand for intelligent feeding equipments have been increased, intelligent feeding equipments can not only save labors but also can increase the feed intake of lactating sows. In order to explore the effect of intelligent feeding on feed intake, body condition and production performance of lactating sows, different feeding modes of feed intake, reproductive performance, water consumption of sows and growth rate of piglets were measured and analyzed. 40 healthy first-born sows, including 13 Landrace pigs and 27 Large White pigs, were selected and randomly divided into 3 groups, there were 15 sows in the test group 1(5 Landrace pigs and 10 Large White pigs), 13 sows in the test group 2(4 Landrace pigs and 9 Large White pigs) and 12 sows in the control group (4 Landrace pigs and 8 Large White pigs).Test group 1 was fed with intelligent feeder (6 times per day), test group 2 was fed artificial (6 times per day) and control group was fed artificial (3 times per day). Sows in control group were fed at 7:00, 10:30 and 17:00, respectively, the amount of feeding per meal was same and was 1/3 of the total amount of feeding per day, from 1 to 7 d after farrowing, sows were fed with restricted feeding, from 8 to 21 d of lactation(weaning age), sows were fed with step up feeding scheme, the feed offered at each meal was adjusted according to the condition of the former meal, if there was no residue of feed in the feeder, the feed offered at this meal would be added within 200 g, the total feeding amount of the next day was 300-500 g more than that of the previous day in all. If there was residue more than 50% of the feed offered, a small amount of feeding or no feeding was required in the next meal. Sows in teat group 1 were fed at 5:00-7:00, 8:00-10:00, 11:00-13:00, 14:00-16:00, 17:00-19:00 and 20:00-22:00, respectively, the percent of each meal was 30%, 10%, 10%, 10%, 30% and 10% of the feed should be offered in one day, respectively. From 1 to 21 d of lactation, feed offered each day was given according to the setting feed offered. The feed offered at each meal was adjusted according to the condition of the former meal and the feed offered previous day, If the first feeding was finished according to the setting value, the feeding amount would be increased by one grade (10% of the feeding amount on the same day) and reduced by one grade if there was leftovers. Sows in test group 2 were fed at 7:00, 8:30, 10:30, 14:00, 17:00 and 20:00, respectively, and the feed offered at each meal was 1/6 of the feed offered one day. From 8 to 21 d of lactation, the feed offered at each meal was adjusted according to the condition of the former meal, if there was no residue in the feeder, the feed offered at this meal would be added within 100 g，feed offered one day would be 300～500 g more than that of the previous day in all. If there was residue more than 50% of the feed offered, no feeding was offered for the next meal. The results showed that the feed intake of artificial feeding for 3e times per day (6.46 kg) was significantly higher than that of intelligent feeding for 6 times per day (5.78 kg) under the experimental environment during the lactation days of 8-21 d (P<0.05). If only consider the daily feeding intake of lactating sows, artificial feeding for 3 times per day was better than intelligent feeding for 6 times per day. The change of body mass, backfat change, water consumption, number of total piglets, days of estrus after weaning and average daily gained of body mass of one piglet had no significant difference (P>0.05). But intelligent feeding for 6 times per day was slightly better than artificial feeding for 3 times per day in backfat change, days of estrus after weaning and average daily gained of body mass of one piglet. Ad libitum fed after farrowing perhaps could lead to anorexia which can affect the feeding intake and body condition negatively. It was necessary to use intelligent feeders under such conditions like simulating excellent experienced workers when excellent experienced workers were not easy to hire and in research work which need to collect feed parameters. Under the existing equipment investment and wage level, the intelligent feeder could replace an excellent breeder with the normal use of 4.5 a. The results can provide reference for intelligent feeding to replace experienced artificial feeding and to select feeding methods according to feeding conditions in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hot and humid climates, as encountered in the southern region of China with the open housing, can adversely impact the sows undergoing heat stress during the most vulnerable period at lactation. Hence, a water-cooled cover system (WCCs) for local cooling has essential practical value to improve productivity. The WCCs was developed for the sow crate of lactating sows separately, which performance was validated with the cooling efficiency in the sow occupied zone (SOZ) and physiological parameters. The results showed that the WCCs for the farrowing sows using aluminium plastic tubes connected in series could reach an appropriate cooling performance in adjacent units. The WCCs could decrease the SOZ air temperature by 3.0-4.5°C under the extremely hot climate when the indoor air temperature was 37°C, and maintain a suitable range (25-30°C) under the typical hot climate (<35°C). The respiration rate and skin temperature of farrowing sows had no significant difference between treatment group (WCC) and control group (sprinkle cooling) when the air temperature was below 30°C, but had a significant difference (p<0.05) when air temperature rose above 30°C. The control sows drank more during hot weather, and the feed intake was significantly lower than the sows with the WCCs (p<0.01). It was concluded that the WCCs could alleviate the heat stress of farrowing sows during typical hot climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) can infect many host species and cause acute myocarditis and respiratory failure in piglets, reproductive failure in pregnant sows. In this study, an EMCV strain, designated JZ1202, was isolated from semi-captive wild boars that presented with acute myocarditis and sudden death in central China. It was identified by hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and genome sequencing. The subsequent results showed that the virus could produce a specific cytopathic effect on BHK cells and could cause clinical symptoms and pathological changes in mice. Complete genome sequencing and multiple sequence alignment indicated that JZ1202 strain was 81.3%–99.9% identical with other isolates worldwide. Phylogenetic analysis of the whole genome, ORF, VP3/VP1 and 3D genes using neighbor-joining method revealed that JZ1202 isolate was grouped into lineage 1. The results of this study confirmed that an EMCV strain JZ 1202 isolated from wild boar in central China was fatal to mice and provided new epidemiologic data on EMCV in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hot and humid summer climates in certain parts of China can adversely impact on the production and welfare of gestating sows. Hence, effective cooling means to alleviate heat stress are essential to pig production. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a water-cooled cover (WCC) attached to the sow’s stall with regards to thermal microenvironment in the sow occupied zone (SOZ), and the physiological and behavioural responses of the sows. The results showed that black-globe temperature (BGT) in SOZ under WCC with or without the presence of the sow averaged 4.8 or 5.4 °C below that of the control (without WCC) when the indoor air temperature was 34.3 °C. The temperature reduction in SOZ was proportional to the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet water of WCC. Increasing water flow rate through WCC enhanced cooling efficiency up to 4 l min−1 beyond which little additional benefit could be gained from further increase in water flow rate. Respiratory rate and surface temperature of the sows with access to WCC were significantly lower than those for control group (P < 0.001). The WCC sows spent 74% of their time lying under WCC, while the control sows spent 94% of the time lying in the pen. The sow’s thermoregulatory responses and behaviours were observed to lag 1–3 h behind the peak air temperature. Results of the present work suggest that WCC can alleviate heat stress of gestating sows in hot and humid climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pigs are one of several host species for Toxoplasma gondii , and consumption of infected pork may lead to toxoplasmosis in humans. The aim of this study was to develop an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using surface antigen protein 1 (SAG1) of T. gondii for the diagnosis of porcine toxoplasmosis and to perform a serological investigation of pigs in Shandong province, China. A total of 1170 serum samples were collected from 14 cities, and 244 of them (20.85%) were positive. In different areas, the prevalence ranged from 15.63% to 22.98%, which had a significant differentiation. Among the different populations, gestating sows had the highest seroprevalence (25.7%), followed by breeding boars (22.7%), replacement gilts (21.1%), fattening pigs (18.3%) and piglets (17.1%). The rearing environment was also a determinant of seroprevalence, including family farmers (25.5%), large farmers (15.2%) and small farms (22.8%). This study provides information on the seroepidemiological study of T. gondii in pigs in Shandong province, which will be useful in developing strategies for the control of T. gondii infection in pigs. • ELISA based on recombinant SAG1 was developed for the detection of toxoplasmosis in pigs. • The average prevalence of toxoplasmosis in pigs of Shandong province was 20.85%. • Age, geographical location and farm scales were the decisive factors affecting the epidemic of toxoplasmosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the experiment was to use the DNA mutations in the RBP4 and OPN genes to determine associations between the genotypes and litter size in Tibet pigs. Reproductive traits investigated were total number of piglets born (TNB) and number of piglets born alive (NBA). The polymorphisms were detected using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment-length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method with MspI for RBP4 gene and PCR product electrophoresis in a 1.5% agarose gel for OPN gene, respectively. The relationships between the genotypes of two genes and traits investigated were analysed. Our results provide further evidence that both RBP4 and OPN genes can be used as genetic markers to improve reproductive performance in Tibet sows and help breeders select the best sows at an early stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In sows afflicted with endometritis, vaginal microbiota can provide valuable information regarding bacterial community diversity. Our aim was to compare the vaginal microbiotas between endometritis and healthy sows and characterize the vaginal microbiota of endometritis sows using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Vaginal swabs were collected from healthy (Healthy&#95;A, n = 10; Healthy&#95;B, n = 10) and diseased (Endometritis&#95;A, n = 10; Endometritis&#95;B, n = 10) sows from two swine farms located in Guangdong and Yunnan province, in Southern China. The results of V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene showed that Corynebacterium&#95;1, Clostridium&#95;sensu&#95;stricto&#95;1, Porphyromonas, Anaerococcus, Streptococcus, and Bacteroides comprised the core microbiota in all healthy sows. Two type of endometritis microbiota patterns were presented in two farms: the first comprised mostly of Burkholderia in farm A and the second comprised of Parvimonas in farm B. In farm A, the percentages of Burkholderia, Serratia, and Enterobacter were higher in the endometritis group, while only Parvimonas was significantly increased in the endometritis group in farm B (p < 0.05). Interestingly, the genus Burkholderia and Serratia were found only in the endometritis sows from farm A. Burkholderia was the most dominant genus found in endometritis sows and was confirmed by full-length 16S rRNA analysis using PacBio sequencing., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Evaluates reproductive traits of female pigs that are mix of Chinese breeds. Experimental procedures; Results and discussion; Implications.

Simple Summary: Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is a common pathogen in multiple animal species, particularly in pigs, which is now one of the most important factors on pig husbandry loss. This study isolated a PRV variation strain HNXY and performed the etiology characterization of HNXY. Moreover, the attenuated rHNXY-∆TK/∆gE presented satisfactory safety among susceptible animals, which It is worthy of doing more studies on this variation strain as PRV vaccine candidate. The outbreak of pseudorabies in China, caused by more virulent pseudorabies virus (PRV) than the classical strains, has led to considerable economic losses. In this study, PRV strain HNXY was isolated from the Henan province of China in 2015 from the pig farm with severe reproductive failure in sows and a high mortality in piglets. The 50% tissue culture infectious doses (TCID50) of HNXY in Vero cells were examined to be 106.5/mL, and the neutralisation titer against Bartha-K61 was significantly higher than against HNXY when tested with the serum from Bartha-K61 vaccinated pigs. The 50% lethal doses (LD50) of HNXY to six-week-old BALB/c mice and two-month-old PRV-free pigs were both 102.3 TCID50. HNXY was classified as genotype II, and numerous amino acid variations were found in gB, gE, gC, gD, TK, and RR1 proteins, compared with PRV from other countries or those prevalent in China before 2012. The attenuated rHNXY-∆TK/∆gE was further constructed, which presented significantly smaller plaques than HNXY, as well as the similar growth kinetics. rHNXY-∆TK/∆gE was confirmed to be non-pathogenic to six-week-old BALB/c mice and zero-day-old piglets. This study isolated updated PRV promising to develop into a new vaccine candidate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The recombinant L. acidophilus expressing S 1 and S 2 domains of PEDV were generated. • The oral vaccines for PED were based on a swine-origin L. acidophilus. • The oral L. acidophilus vaccines induced humoral and mucosal immunity in mice. • The L. acidophilus -S 1 vaccine induced humoral and mucosal immunity in sows. Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) is a highly contagious intestinal infectious disease caused by porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), which is characterized by a high mortality rate in piglets. Since 2012, a remarkable growth in PED outbreaks occurred in many pig farms in China, landing a heavy blow on the pig industry. In order to develop a new effective vaccine for the current PEDV, oral vaccines were generated by transferring eukaryotic expression recombinant plasmids carrying the S 1 and S 2 (antigenic sites of the S protein) epitopes of PEDV into a swine-origin Lactobacillus acidophilus (L. acidophilus). After oral immunization of the BALB/c mice, higher levels of anti-PEDV specific IgG and SIgA antibodies and cellular immune responses were detected in mice orally administered with the recombinant L. acidophilus -S 1 compared to the L. acidophilus -S 2. Furthermore, L. acidophilus -S 1 was used to inoculate the pregnant sows orally and the results showed that the recombinant L. acidophilus -S 1 could elicit a specific systemic and mucosal immune response. In summary, our study demonstrated that oral immunization with L. acidophilus -S 1 could improve the humoral and mucosal immune levels in sows and would be a promising candidate vaccine against PEDV infection in piglets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atypical porcine pestivirus (APPV) is recognised as the etiology of congenital tremor (CT) Type A-II and poses a challenge to pig production. Here, we described a CT case in piglets caused by APPV infection in central China in 2017. Interestingly, different from a previous report, more CT litters were observed in the second and third parity sows compared to the first and fourth parity. Evolutionary analysis and recombination evaluation were conducted for the isolate and 61 APPV genomes were available in GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a high level of genetic variation of APPV and the coexistence of three clades (Clades I–III) in China. The isolate was clustered into Clade I, which seemed to be prevalent worldwide and displayed higher genetic variability (Subgroups 1–4) compared with Clade II and Clade III, both of which were only reported in China. Notably, three putative recombinants were identified and characterized in APPV. The recombination events occurred in inter-clades (Clade II and III) or intra-clades (Clade I). To the best of our knowledge, this study presents the first evidence of homologous recombination within Pestivirus K. These results provide new clinical presentations of APPV infection and may be helpful in better understanding the large amount of genetic variations in this genus. • More CT litters were observed in the second and third parity sows comparing to the first and fourth parity. • Phylogenetic analysis reveals high genetic diversity of APPV and multi-clade (Clade I-III) are coexisting in China. • Three putative recombinants and their potential parental strains were identified and characterized using several algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Sweet potato vine, as a by-product of sweet potato, has been previously used for various purposes in southern China. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sweet potato vine on the onset of puberty and follicular development in the ovaries of Chinese Meishan gilts. Our results suggested that sweet potato vine supplementation delayed puberty onset and improved the follicular development, which was associated with enhanced reproductive performance in Chinese Meishan gilts. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of sweet potato vine on the onset of puberty and the follicular development in the ovaries of Chinese Meishan gilts. A total of 20 Meishan gilts (initial body weight at 30 ± 0.18 kg) were randomly fed a control (CON) or sweet potato vine (SPV) supplemented diet until 19 days following the third estrous. Sweet potato vine was instead of part of basal diet with the same amount of energy and protein in the sweet potato vine group. The results indicate that gilts fed with sweet potato vine reached puberty 9.4 days later. The development of ovaries was enhanced by sweet potato vine supplementation, characterized by an increase (p < 0.05) in the relative weight of the ovaries and the number of large follicles (>5 mm). Sweet potato vine supplementation increased (p < 0.05) the total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) and reduced (p < 0.05) the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the serum of the gilts. Also, the expression of superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) and luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR) mRNA in the granulosa cells from the large follicle (>5 mm) of gilts in the SPV group were increased (p < 0.05) as compared with the CON group. These results indicate that gilts fed with sweet potato vine exhibited delayed puberty as well as improved follicular development, which may contribute to the reproductive performance of Chinese Meishan gilts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Unplanned removal of gilts and sows shortens the longevity and decreases the production efficiency of commercial herds. A comparison between sow culling studies is problematic due to differences in genetics, housing conditions, and feeding and management among different countries. Analyzing and monitoring culling patterns in sows in a particular area could help improve domestic feeding and the managing level. Based on the large sample of production data, we found that disease, lameness, return to estrus, and anestrus beyond seven days sharply decreased lifetime production in sows. We suggest that producers take effective measures to reduce anestrus beyond nine months, reproductive system disease, return to estrus, and low or no milk production for gilts, weaned sows, gestating sows, and lactating sows, respectively. We also recommend producers pay more attention to disease, lameness, and return to estrus for sows at low parity. To investigate culling patterns during the breeding cycle and lifetime production associated with culling reasons, 19,471 culling records were collected in southwest China. Lifetime pigs born alive (LPBA) and parity for culling reasons, and reason distribution at different parities and breeding cycle were analyzed. Sows culled for stress and death (SD), lameness (LA), common disease (CD), not being pregnant, return to estrus, and abortion (NP) had fewer than 20 LPBA (p < 0.05). Gilts were mainly culled for anestrus beyond nine months (AB9), CD, and LA, while weaned sows were culled for reproductive system disease (RS), CD, and anestrus beyond seven days (p < 0.0033). Gestating sows were mainly culled for NP, CD, and SD, while lactating sows were mainly culled for low or no milk production (NM), poor litter size, and CD (p < 0.0033). Moreover, sows were mainly culled at parity 0, 1, and 2 (p < 0.0024). Besides CD and RS, LA and NP were the primary reasons for parity 1 and 2 culls, respectively. In conclusion, SD, LA, CD, and NP sharply decrease sow lifetime production. AB9, RS, NP, and NM mainly occurred in gilts, weaned, gestating, and lactating sows, respectively. Low parity sows had a higher risk of CD, RS, LA, and NP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BSTRACT Duroc, Meishan, Fengjing and Minzhu boars were mated to White composite gilts. Trained sensory panel evaluation and Warner-Bratzler shear force determinations were made on chops that had been aged 4 days postmortem. No differences (P > 0.05) were found in juiciness, connective tissue amount, flavor intensity, tenderness or shear force values among sire breeds. No differences (P > 0.05) were detected in cooking losses, although meat from the Duroc-sired pigs cooked at a faster (P < 0.05) rate, but required longer cooking (P < 0.05) times than that from the other sire breeds. These data indicate the introduction of currently available Chinese genetics into the U.S. swine population would have little effect on the palatability of pork loin chops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]