Veterinary session

Slaughterhouse monitoring studies provide a comprehensive picture of the animal health status of a given swine farm, mainly with regard to respiratory diseases (PRDC) and liver problems, by regularly assessing the incidence of macroscopic lesions.

In my dissertation, I summarized and evaluated the data collected from 18,317 slaughter pigs from 121 pig fattening farms in Hungary during the slaughterhouse inspections carried out between 2012 and 2017. Pneumonia was measured by the MADEC method and pleurisy was measured by S.P.E.S. method, the extent of the presence of Ascaris suum was assessed by scoring milk spots, and the incidence of fatty liver degenerations and pericarditis was rmeasured by recording their number and calculating their percentage incidence. Using the digital monitoring data sheet developed by MSD AH, I calculated the Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae Index (APPI) and Ascaris suum Index values, which express the prevalence and severity of specific pathogens on a scale of 0 to 4. Finally, using the data sheet, I estimated the magnitude of economic damage to a slaughter pig caused by PRDC and A. suum infection.

The results of the slaughterhouse survey show that between 2012 and 2017, the average annual MADEC lung points of slaughter pigs ranged from 5.77 to 12.11, compared to the maximum value of 28. The average S.P.E.S. pleural scores ranged from 0.56 to 1.12, the value of milk spot in the liver affected by A. suum ranged from 0.11 to 1.43 on a scale of 0 to 4. APP-induced lesions occurred between 1.41% and 4.49%, fatty liver degeneration between 12.3% and 25.6%, and pericarditis between 0.4% and 3.4% over the study period.

The value of the economic damage estimated by the extent of the macroscopic pathological changes found during the monitoring examinations in the case of respiratory problems was 1,561-3,719 HUF, and due to the A. suum infection it changed between 23-1,295 HUF per slaughter pig between 2012 and 2017. The economics loss caused by PRDC noticeably and that caused by ascariosis significantly reduced during the study period.

The results suggest that the information provided by regular slaughterhouse inspections may have been of great help to swine farm managers in introducing more effective vaccination and antiparasitic protocols in the herds surveyed.