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Main Causes of Death in Piglets from Different Brazilian Nursery Farms Based on Clinical, Microbiological, and Pathological Aspects

Authors :
Jean Carlo Olivo Menegatt
Fernanda Felicetti Perosa
Anderson Hentz Gris
Manoela Marchezan Piva
Guilherme Carvalho Serena
Diego Luiz Bordignon
Carolina Reck
Álvaro Menin
Tatiane Terumi Negrão Watanabe
David Driemeier
Source :
Animals, Vol 13, Iss 24, p 3819 (2023)
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2023.

Abstract

Necropsies can reveal herd problems or comorbidities that can lead to management corrections, improvements in animal performance, and better decision making. Furthermore, the pattern and causes of mortality might differ when different systems are evaluated. The present study was conducted to establish the main causes of death in nursery pigs from different systems in Brazil, as well as the clinical, microbiological, and pathological aspects of these mortalities. Eighteen nurseries were analyzed (a total of 120,243 housed piglets), and 557 necropsies were performed. Streptococcus suis infection was the most prevalent cause of death (21.2%), followed by bacterial polyserositis (16.7%), chronic atrophic enteritis (13.5%), salmonellosis (8.8%), pneumonia (8.6%), and colibacillosis (6.1%). The increase in mortality rate in individual nurseries and, consequently, in the diagnoses was commonly associated with disease outbreaks. Infectious diseases constituted the largest portion of the diagnoses, making a great opportunity for improving production rates in herds. Moreover, the extensive range of observed diagnoses highlights the importance of conducting preliminary diagnostic investigations based on necropsy to determine the causes of death. This approach allows for the direction of complementary tests, which can diagnose agents with greater specificity. As a result, this allows for the implementation of more effective prevention and control strategies.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20762615
Volume :
13
Issue :
24
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Animals
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.358e6cf9aea84a30bb6069462e57949c
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13243819