ThePigSite Pig Health

Sites of Injection

(137)
Subcutaneous - The ideal site for the small pig is inside the thigh beneath the fold of the skin or, beneath
the skin behind the shoulder. In the growing and mature animals, the best site is approximately 25-75mm
behind and on the level of the base of
the ear, using a 25mm needle at a 45°
angle.

Intravenous - There are three sites for

injecting medicines directly into the
blood stream, the ear veins, the jugular
vein and the anterior vena cava or large
vein that leaves the heart. The ear vein
is the most common method particularly
for anaesthetics and occasionally
calcium injections. The skin over the
outer part of the ear is cleaned with
cotton wool and surgical spirit which
also demarcates the veins. They are
then raised by applying pressure to the
base of the ear. The pig should be
restrained by a wire noose or rope
around the upper jaw and or by
sedation using azaperone (stresnil). For
techniques see chapter 15).

Intramuscular - The common preferred site in weaners, growers, finishers and adults is up to 70mm behind the base
of the ear. Small piglets are often injected into the ham of the hind leg because there is not much muscle on the neck.
This is not recommended in growers/finishers because of the possibility of abscesses.

Fig.4-5 lists some of the common antibiotics that are administered by injection. The first column gives the mg/ml of
active medicine and the second the mg/kg of live weight to achieve therapeutic levels. How much body weight 1ml
will treat is then calculated and the number of ml required to treat the pig is then calculated. This varies with the
concentration or mg/ml of the antibiotic.

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Withdrawal period - This is the time between the last dose of medicine administered and the time when the level of
residue in the muscle, liver, kidney, fat or skin is equal or less than the maximum residue limit (MRL) allowed in
carcasses. The MRL in the EU is the legally permitted maximum concentration allowed. Fig.4-5 gives guidelines of
the periods for the different antibiotics but for the exact period it is necessary to refer to the current relevant data
sheet.

Where a withdrawal period for pig meat is not specified a standard period of 28 days is recommended.
3

A guideline to the use of antibiotics in specific diseases is shown in Fig.4-6 but you are advised to discuss these with
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your veterinarian.
Administrating Medicines Topically

(138) These can be applied to the nose, mouth, ears, eyes, skin and feet. Treatments to the skin are
either applied by spray, liquid or immersion of the pig, and used against skin parasites, such as mange or
lice or greasy pig disease. Some medicines are poured onto the skin from which they may be absorbed
and distributed throughout the body. Mange is treated this way using 20% phosmet (Porect). Topical
administration of medicines is simple cheap and causes the pig least stress. As techniques develop it
could be come an increasingly used procedure.

Group Treatment
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(140) The practical problems of giving medication in water can be considerable. On many farms, the water pipes are
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old, and if the antibiotic powder contains sugars or acids there is a tendency for mineral deposits to form and block
 the pipe, or yeasts multiply, producing a jelly which does likewise. It then becomes a major problem to clean them
out. Water soluble antibiotics should be used in a pure form where possible or with a minimum carrier base. Water
tanks can be quite small, and it is therefore necessary to introduce the antibiotic to the water four or five times a day.
If water is taken direct from the mains supply, water medication is impossible unless a proportioner is used. Some
water authorities prohibit the use of water direct from the mains supply. Up to 40% of the antibiotic may be wasted
through inefficient nipple drinkers. Small groups of pigs are best medicated using a 180 litre barrel with a water bowl
attached to the bottom. This is a very efficient method of administration but impractical on a large scale.

Fig.4-7 shows a range of antibiotics available for water use and dose levels per tonne of live weight. For example
amoxycillin powder 50% contains 50% of the active medicine amoxycillin, and 50% of a carrier, either citric acid or a
sugar such as dextrose. A dose level of 15mg/kg live weight of amoxycillin requires a dose of 30g/tonne of live weight
per day of total powder but in practice this level would be raised to approximately 40g/tonne to allow for the losses in
the water through the nipple drinker.

How to apply antibiotic powder to water in header tanks

1. Calculate the total kg of live weight to be medicated in tonnes.
2. Calculate the g of powder required for the 24 hour period. Add 10-20% extra if nipple drinkers are used.
3. The water intake per tonne of live weight per 24 hours will be approximately 100 litres.
4. Calculate the total water used in 24 hours.
5. Divide the header tank capacity into the total water used which gives the times that the tank is emptied in
24 hours.
6. Divide the powder and add pro rata to the tank. Stir each time.
Example
Medication with Amoxycillin - 50% at 15mg/kg. Water bowls used.

 4 tonnes of live weight at 30g powder per tonne = 120g.

 400 litres of water consumed
 If a 200 litre tank is available then 400/200 = the tank will empty twice in 24 hours
 Place 60g or half the powder in the tank early in the morning and the other half at the end of the day.

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Individual Pig Treatment
(141) This is most commonly used in sucking piglets for scours and other bacterial infections. Fig.4-8 lists
medicines available.

When you decide to treat pigs orally (or by injection) ask yourself the following questions:

 Should the veterinarian be consulted?

 Have all individual affected pigs been identified ?.
 Is this condition one that has been reliably diagnosed before or is it a new one?
 Is it necessary to treat it?
 Are medicines to treat this condition readily available?
 Are there any welfare or nursing implications?
 Should the affected pig(s) be moved to a hospital pen?
 What methods of administration should be used?
 What dose should be given? Is the correct information on this available?
 How often should the medicine to be given and for how long?
 Are any adverse effects likely?

Then you should:

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 Record when the treatment started and its progression.

 Assess the response on a day-by-day basis.
 If there is no response within 24 hours consult your veterinarian.
 Administrating Medicines In-Feed
 (142) The inclusion of antibiotics, in-feed is the most common method of controlling and
preventing diseases. (Fig.4-9).

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 

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  In-feed medication can be an effective means of control when used over several weeks.
 In-feed medication is wasteful in that it is inevitably given to healthy pigs that do not need it as well as to the
diseased pigs that do need it. In-feed supplements can also be used as top dressings, that is, sprinkling
small amounts over the feed to administer the antibiotic. Top dressing is a very suitable method for small
groups of pigs and individually fed animals, such as sows and boars.

Factors to consider when using In-Feed Medication

 (143) At the time of the disease outbreak, there may be no bin capacity available to hold the medicated feed
and bagged food is sometimes required.
 If strategic medication is used, hold one bin for medicated feed only.
 If medicated feed is placed in a bin containing non medicated feed, the time of the feed reaching the pigs
and the withdrawal will be unknown.
 Bagged food is more expensive.
 There can be a delay in manufacturing and delivering the medicated feed.
 Sick pigs often do not eat or have reduced feed intake and therefore won't receive sufficient antibiotic.
 If the appetite is poor the medicine inclusion rate may need to be increased by up to 30%, provided it is safe
to do so.
 In-feed medicines may require a product licence for use in food producing animals and therefore the
availability of medicines is narrow.
 Each particular medicine has its own withdrawal period and this may mean it is impracticable to use in pigs
near the point of slaughter.
 Automatic feed lines make the application of in-feed medication to selective groups difficult.
 The bin containing the medicated feed should be marked with the date it entered and the date when empty.
Withdrawal times can then be calculated.

Strategic Medication
(144) This method applies treatment at the anticipated beginning of the disease or during the incubation
period. To carry this out, there are a number of essential components:-

 The specific organism associated with the disease should be identified.

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 The medicine sensitivity of the organism should be identified.

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 The incubation period (the time from exposure to the organism to clinical symptoms) should be known.
  Last, and most important, the point at which the disease process starts and when it becomes clinically
apparent should be determined. Medication can then commence prior to this point.

Strategic medication (Fig.4-10) is usually carried out in the feed but it can also be applied in the drinking
water or by injection using long-acting preparations. It can also be applied to eliminate disease from a
group of pigs. A good example would be to prevent possible swine dysentery in purchased pigs on
entering a finishing herd. In this case the feed could be medicated with either lincomycin (110g/tonne) or
tiamulin (100g/tonne) for the first 14 days during isolation on the farm. If strategic medication is carried
out routinely, medicated feed must be held continuously in a designated bin.

A typical example would be the use of high levels of oxytetracycline, (500-800g to the tonne), in growing pigs to
control severe outbreaks of enzootic pneumonia. The procedure would be to medicate all the pigs for seven days,
one week after entry into the houses or approximately ten days prior to the commencement of clinical symptoms.

Thus each week a selected group of pigs would commence treatment to prevent the development of extensive
lesions in the lungs and yet allow immunity to develop. An alternative strategy would be an injection of long-acting
OTC given at a predetermined point. This method is of course more labour intensive. Strategic medication by
injection is easier to apply in younger pigs. Fig.4-11 indicates some of the diseases where it can be used and the
times of application.
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The following on-farm case histories illustrate some of the uses for strategic medication:-

Enzootic pneumonia
Farm A was a 200 sow herd producing pigs for sale at 90kg. Its buildings were poorly insulated and due
to the bad economic state of the industry at the time, no capital was available to improve the environment
other than by managemental means. Severe bouts of coughing developed on this farm approximately
three weeks after pigs moved from the first stage rearing accommodation into the finishing houses. Post
mortem and lung examinations showed extensive lesions of enzootic pneumonia associated with
secondary pasteurella infections, the latter shown to be sensitive to chlortetracycline (CTC). The first
cases of clinical pneumonia became evident starting 10 days after the pigs moved into the finishing
house. Commencing on day eight after entry, pigs were medicated with 600gm/tonne CTC for a period of
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seven days. This had a dramatic effect on reducing the incidence of disease and in particular, the
numbers of pigs requiring individual treatment. The variability in growth was reduced. Initially, this was a
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herd with young breeding but as they matured, the time of onset of disease changed to appear five weeks
after moving in to the finishing houses. The strategic medication was therefore given two weeks later.

Atrophic rhinitis (AR)

Herd B was a 1200 sow unit showing clinical atrophic rhinitis at a visual level of 15%. Toxigenic
pasteurella and bordetella bacteria were isolated and were found to be sensitive to trimethoprim and
amoxycillin. All piglets were injected with a long-acting preparation of the latter medicine at day seven,
and again at weaning at 21 days. Pigs were further medicated with oxytetracycline in-feed for 14 days
post-weaning. For a period of six months following this, the incidence of atrophic rhinitis at a visual level
dropped to 2%. It then, however, started to rise again to a 7% level. Apparently the stockperson had
decided to inject the pigs at 10-14 days of age because this was more convenient. This allowed early
establishment of pasteurella organisms in the nose and a considerable amount of damage. When the
injections were moved back to the seven day point the problem again returned to low levels. This
example illustrates the importance of determining by trial and error, the critical point at which strategic
medicine therapy should be given. At the time of this disease problem vaccines to prevent atrophic rhinitis
were not available

Actinobacillus (Haemophilus) pleuropneumonia (App)

This disease can be a very difficult one to control especially in its severe form. Herd C was a 250 sow
herd producing pigs for slaughter at around 70kg liveweight. At nine weeks of age pigs were moved from
the nurseries (flat decks) into a second stage rearing accommodation and within seven days of entry,
severe outbreaks of pleuropneumoniae occurred. In view of the very short incubation period of this
disease (12-48 hours) strategic medication can be difficult to apply. In this particular case, medication
was applied immediately the first clinical case became apparent. To obtain a very rapid response,
chlortetracycline was placed in the header tanks in the drinking water for a period of 72 hours. The
response on this farm was quite dramatic, but perhaps even more importantly, the trigger factors
associated with a drop in energy intake and variable temperatures in the house were then corrected. This
reduced the strategic medication requirements which illustrates the importance of management.

Streptococcal meningitis (SM)

Farm D was a 350 sow herd previously free of streptococcal meningitis. It became infected with a virulent
strain of Streptococcus suis type 2 through the purchase of a group of gilts which were carrying the
infection. The introduction of disease caused severe problems in the nurseries (flat decks) where it
regularly appeared approximately 16 days after entry into the house. All pigs were medicated through the
drinking water with potassium penicillin V commencing on day 10 through to day 17. High numbers of
pigs become carriers of the organism in their tonsils within 2 weeks of occupying nurseries and a variable
number of such animals then develop the disease. The object of applying water medication at this stage
was to reduce the level of infection. The disease reached its peak with some 15% of each batch of pigs
moved into the house requiring individual treatment. Strategic medication reduced this down to less than
1%.

Swine dysentery (SD)

Farm E was a finishing farm purchasing approximately 10,000 pigs per annum. It had previously been
infected with swine dysentery and an eradication programme was successfully carried out. It was
however, periodically committed to buying pigs from unknown sources, in response to market forces. In
order therefore, to protect the herd all incoming pigs were strategically medicated in groups of 200 when
they entered the farm whilst in isolation premises. These premises were completely emptied and
disinfected between batches. On arrival the pigs were medicated in the water with ronidazol for a period
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of five days, together with in-feed medication at 60gm/tonne for a further seven days. These procedures
prevented the appearance of disease.
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These on farm situations illustrate some of the methods by which strategic medication can be used to
good effect to control disease and at the same time be cost effective. There are a variety of medicines
available and Fig.4-10 lists some of these, together with in-feed dose rates. However, if you are thinking
of adopting strategic medication discuss it with your veterinarian first so that he can advise you on the
best type of medicine, the dose level and its timing. Fig.4-11 shows possible time applications for
strategic medication.

Pulse Medication

(145) Pulse medication is an alternative programme to continuous medication for the control of disease.
The medication is given either in water or feed for short periods of only 48-72 hours.

Only medicines with short withdrawal periods can be used if pigs are near market weight. Treatment costs are
reduced compared to continuous medication. It does need careful control to ensure that withdrawal periods are
observed and is difficult to carry out where automated feeding systems are used. It is more ideal for use in wet
feeding systems.

Pulse medication has been used successfully in the control of pneumonia, using a combination of 300g/tonne of CTC
and 30g/tonne of tiamulin. Such medication could be used for two days followed by four days off. Results on farms
have shown an improvement in food conversion of 0.2, daily liveweight gain of 6.7%, and considerable reductions in
lung scores at slaughter.

Continuous Medication

(146) Pigs are medicated continuously for periods of up to 12 weeks during the critical periods of
exposure to disease. Dose levels are usually lower than those used for treatment. Fig.4-1 lists the in-feed
levels that can be used for the various respiratory diseases.

Continuous medication can be expensive but in permanently populated houses with mixed ages of pigs it can work
well with considerable growth enhancement which helps offset the cost.

There is continual suppression of organisms. In severe endemic disease the system can break down. There may also
be problems with withdrawal periods in finishing pigs. Continuous medication should therefore be regarded as a last
resort. Always ask three questions if continuous medication is necessary:

 Why is there a problem?

 What has gone wrong with the management?
 CAN THIS BE CORRECTED?

Medicated Early Weaning (MEW)

See also chapter 3 for further information

(147) This is a specialised technique for producing high health status breeding stock from a disease herd. It is used
mainly by breeding (seed stock) companies rather than commercial producers although systems such as three-site
and multi-site production which have evolved from it, are highly applicable to commercial production.

Basically, MEW breaks the cycle of infection by farrowing groups of sows in isolation and weaning their piglets to
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clean premises at about 5-7 days of age. Medication of the sow and piglets, and sometimes vaccination of the sow,
are added safeguards depending upon what particular infections are to be eliminated.
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This method produces excellent results in removing most bacterial infections. However, it is possible to produce a pig
that is so devoid of pig organisms, that it cannot be acclimatised into conventional herds. Also if a new herd is
established by this method it can be very susceptible to even low pathogenic organisms. The technique is used
mainly to establish new high health herds.

Procedures
 Sows are moved into isolated farrowing houses at least 5 days before farrowing, 800m from the
nearest pig.
 An all in - all out system is used. Each batch of sows is washed prior to entry.
 Farrowing is induced with prostaglandin injections at day 113.
 Sows are medicated from entry into the farrowing house until the piglets are weaned.
 The piglets are weaned at 5 days and reared in groups in isolated housing.
 The piglets are medicated from birth to 10 days of age.

A possible medication regime

Sows

 Injected with potentiated sulphonamide containing 40mg trimethoprim, 200mg sulphonamide/ml

(TMS), on entry into the farrowing accommodation at the recommended treatment level.
 From entry to weaning the feed is medicated with TMS at therapeutic doses, and water soluble
tiamulin is given twice daily.

Piglets

 Injected daily with TMS until weaning.

 Post weaned pigs - Injected with TMS and dosed orally daily with tiamulin for 5 days.

Bacterial diseases that can be eradicated by MEW:

 Actinobacillus pleuropneumonia
 Atrophic rhinitis
 Enzootic pneumonia
 Glässers disease (Haemophilus parasuis)
 Mange (Treatment of the sow with ivermectins is required).
 Streptococcal meningitis
 Swine dysentery

Trade Names of Antibacterial Medicines

(148) Finally, to give a better understanding of antibacterial substances and trade names, Fig.4-12
illustrates some of the commercial products available for the different generic antibiotics in the UK, EU
and elsewhere.

By producing a list of products available in your country you can compare the costs of the active medicines made by
different manufacturers. These lists will alter with time with new additions and deletions. Discuss aspects of this with
your veterinarian.
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Antibiotics and antibacterial medicines are the most widely used medicines on a day to day basis in the control of pig
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diseases but other products must also be considered. These include:

  Anaesthetics, sedatives and analgesics.
 Parasecticides. Wormers.
 Vaccines.
 Hormones.
 Growth promoters and probiotics.
 Electrolytes.

Products Available

(150) The indications for anaesthesia in the pig are limited but include caesarean section, vasectomy and
ovum transplants, operations that are carried out by a veterinarian. Most other surgical procedures can be
carried out by the use of tranquillisers and local anaesthetics. Anaesthesia is carried out by intravenous
injection, inhalation, spinal anaesthesia or local infiltration of tissues. The first three are only used by a
veterinarian but local anaesthesia is frequently necessary to suture small skin wounds or replace rectal
prolapses. Sedatives are frequently used by non veterinary pig people.

Medicines used for general anaesthesia

 Halothane - Inhalation POM

 Pentobarbitone - Intravenous injection POM
 Tanopestone - Intravenous injection POM

POM = Prescription Only Medicine for veterinary use only.

A sow may also be killed for an emergency hysterectomy by shooting and bleeding by cutting the jugular veins, or
destroying the spinal cord using a pithing rod. Only after pithing or bleeding is complete anaesthesia achieved to
allow removal of the piglets. Details of this procedure are given in chapter 15.

Medicines used for local anaesthesia

 Procaine
 Lignocaine
 Amethocaine

Some Trade Names (all injections)

 Corneocaine POM
 Dunlop local PML
 Lignovet PML
 Lignocaine adrenalin POM
 Lignocaine A POM
 Lignol PML
 Nopain plus PML

PML = Pharmacy Merchant List.

Check with your veterinarian for trade names in your country.

Sedatives
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There are three medicines available for sedating pigs, acetylpromazine (ACP), azaperone (stresnil) and
primidone (mysoline).
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ACP (10mg/ml injection POM) - This medicine is used in animals to prevent travel sickness and
occasionally in pigs as a general sedative at a dose level of 0.1mg/kg liveweight. It is also useful for
treating abdominal pain in cases of colic or to provide sedation together with local anaesthesia.

Azaperone (40mg/ml injection POM) Trade name Stresnil - This is a sedative and analgesic widely used
in pigs and very effective.

Indications for use:

 To prevent fighting.
 Sedation prior to anaesthesia.
 To examine pigs feet.
 To prevent a gilt savaging her newborn piglets.
 To calm an excitable animal.
 Prior to mixing or transportation.
 To facilitate any manipulative procedure.

The dose level is 0.5 to 2ml/20kg body weight. The effects of the medicine are dose dependent. When
used at 2ml/20kg the pig is completely sedated after 20 minutes and lies on its side. The lower level of
0.5ml/20kg will prevent fighting when pigs are mixed.

Some guidelines to dose levels:

 Prevention of fighting in adult and growing pigs 1ml/50 kg

 To prevent savaging 2ml/20kg
 Sedation prior to anaesthesia 2ml/20kg
 Sedation prior to manipulation 1ml/20kg

It is important not to disturb the pig for 15 minutes after injection. Distractions will reduce the effectiveness
of the medicine.

Primidone (Mysoline POM 250mg tablets) - This is an excellent yet little used medicine for preventing the savaging
of piglets particularly by gilts. One tablet per 12kg body weight per 24 hours divided into two doses given am and late
pm is advised. Treatment should commence at least 24 hours before farrowing and continue for at least 24 hours
after farrowing. The tablets should be crushed onto the food.

Analgesics
Phenylbutazone

Some trade names:

 Tomanol POM injection

 Equipalazone POM injection
 Equipalazone POM powder

This medicine is very useful in treating painful conditions such as acute lameness and torn
muscles, bush foot infections or acute mastitis. It can be given by injection, by powder or by
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mouth and its use will be advised by your veterinarian.

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arasecticides
151

See chapter 11 Parasites for further information.

Medicines to control parasite infections act variously on the adult worm, the egg or the larva.

Fig.4-13 shows the medicines available and the methods of application. Medicaments can be given by mouth in the
water or feed, by injection or on the skin.

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Vaccines
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(152) So far most of the chapter has dealt with the treatment of disease but therapeutics also includes the
use of products to prevent disease and the most common of these are vaccines which stimulate the
immune system. Vaccination involves exposing the pig to the protein components (called the antigen) of
the infectious agent. Some vaccines contain living organisms that have been altered so that they cannot
produce disease but still produce an immunity. Most contain killed or inactivated organisms.

The immune system responds by producing antibodies that destroy the infectious agents, usually in co-operation with
specialised body cells or by neutralising the toxins that are responsible for the disease. This process of stimulating
immunity is called vaccination.

Vaccines contain antigens from viruses, bacteria, bacterial toxins, or parasites. They are given to pigs, usually by
injection, to stimulate an immune response which will protect the pigs against later natural infection with the organism
from which the vaccine was derived. Most stimulate both a humoral response and a cell-mediated response.

Vaccines can either contain viable organisms that will multiply in the pig, or inactivated ones that will not multiply in
the pig.

In live vaccines the organism has usually been attenuated (i.e. its virulence has been reduced) so that although it
multiples in the pig it does not normally cause disease. Examples are the PRRS vaccine, aujeszky's disease
(pseudorabies) vaccines and classical swine fever vaccines. Live attenuated vaccines have the advantage that
because they multiply in the pig they give a bigger antigenic stimulus resulting in stronger longer-lasting immunity.
They have the disadvantage that they may become inactivated in wrong storage conditions (e.g. heat) or during
dosing, by exposure to antiseptics or disinfectants, and are then useless. It is also important that they are stable and
not able to return to full virulence.

Inactivated (dead) vaccines may contain whole organisms, antigenic parts of organisms or antigens which have been
synthesised chemically. Synthesised antigen vaccines are still largely in the experimental stage.

The immunity produced by inactivated vaccines can be enhanced by substances called adjuvants such as aluminium
hydroxide of certain types of oil. You should take care, however, if you use vaccines with oily adjuvants because they
can cause serious local reactions if you accidentally inject them into yourself, e.g. your hand.

Inactivated vaccines may also contain toxins which have been modified so that they still stimulate an immune
response but are no longer toxic to the animal. Toxins which have been modified in this way are called toxoids. The
classic vaccine of this type is the tetanus toxoid which is used commonly in horses but rarely in pigs. In pigs, some of
the E. coli vaccines against piglet diarrhoea and the clostridial vaccines against piglet dysentery contain toxoids.

Research workers in Guelph, Canada are trying to develop edible pig vaccines in plants. Using genetic manipulation
they are introducing genes into plants to code for novel proteins which immunise pigs against specific diseases if
eaten.

Autogenous Vaccines *
Autogenous vaccines are bacterial vaccines that are manufactured from the specific pathogenic bacteria
isolated from the diseased pig. They are usually made under a licence for use only on that farm. You
should consult with your veterinarian. These are available from Salus (QP) Ltd. They can be useful when
serious disease outbreaks occur and standard commercial vaccines are not available. Such vaccines
could be made from most bacteria including :-
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 Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae
 E. coli
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 Haemophilus parasuis
  Pasteurella
 Salmonella
 Streptococcus suis
 Staphylococcus hyicus (Greasy pig disease)

One drawback to vaccinating a herd is that you cannot then use blood tests to check whether the
organism is present in the herd or not. All the pigs will test positive which has obvious implications for an
eradication programme based on blood tests, for example the eradication of swine fever or aujeszky's
disease (pseudorabies). To get over this, gene-deleted vaccines have been developed. A part of the
organism's gene which codes for an antigen has been removed so that when the organism multiplies in
the pig it does not stimulate antibodies against that antigen. Special blood tests can then distinguish
between the array of disease antibodies and those stimulated by the vaccine. A new generation of such
gene manipulated vaccines, and possibly also synthetic polypeptide vaccines, can be anticipated.

Autogenous vaccines are those prepared with infectious pathogens from the herd which is to be vaccinated. The
causal organisms has to be isolated, grown up, killed, and made into a safe vaccine form. Autogenous vaccines may
be useful when serious disease outbreaks occur and standard commercial vaccines are not available.

Vaccine usage
Fig.4-14 lists the pig diseases for which vaccines are available. This list is not exhaustive and some
vaccines will be available in some countries and not in others. However they are used in most countries
both to protect against disease and to assist in eradication programmes. Some examples of commercial
vaccines available are shown in chapter 4 these are but a few of the many available.

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Vaccines commonly used on pig farms throughout the world include erysipelas, parvovirus infection
(SMEDI syndrome), E. coli diarrhoea, clostridial dysentery of piglets, enzootic pneumonia caused by
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Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, necrotic pleuropneumonia caused by Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

and atrophic rhinitis caused by toxigenic Pasteurella multocida. In many countries, vaccines against
disease, such as, salmonellosis, PRRS and TGE are also used depending on commercial availability.

In the European Union vaccination against classical swine fever has been stopped in a programme aimed
at stamping the disease out. Vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease has also been stopped for a
similar reason. Aujeszky's disease (pseudorabies) virus is widespread everywhere in the EU except in the
UK and Denmark. With the exception of these two countries vaccination is widely practised. A blanket
vaccination regime for all herds is being applied in some countries such as the Netherlands in an attempt
to build up a national herd immunity resulting in the eradication of the virus.

North America is free from FMD and CSF so vaccination is not practised but PR vaccines are widely used
in conjunction with eradication programmes. Elsewhere in the world, the situation regarding these three
diseases varies, so vaccination policies also vary.

The effectiveness of vaccines

This varies, because of the need to stimulate mucosal immunity locally. As mentioned earlier, vaccines
given by injection against respiratory and intestinal disease are generally not as effective as those against
systemic or generalised diseases. An exception to this is the vaccine for enzootic pneumonia (M.
hyopneumoniae) because it stimulates cell-mediated immunity. If, however, they are fed or sprayed into
the upper respiratory tract they may produce a stronger local immunity. The vaccine against piglet
dysentery is a toxoid and if given routinely to sows in adequate doses is usually reasonably effective in
providing passive protection via the colostrum.

Sometimes vaccines do not work particularly well on a farm and in such cases the following possibilities
need to be considered:

 The vaccine was contaminated.

 The vaccine was not capable of producing the required immunity.
 The pig was already incubating the disease when it was vaccinated.
 The vaccine had been incorrectly stored. High temperatures reduce the effectiveness. (Always
keep vaccines in a refrigerator but do not freeze).
 The vaccine had been exposed to sunlight.
 The vaccine had gone out of date.
 The needle and syringe were dirty or faulty.
 Chemical sterilisation destroyed the vaccine.
 The animal had inadvertently missed being vaccinated. This is particularly common with
parvovirus vaccination in the gilt.
 Vaccine response was poor because there was maternal antibody present.
 The vaccine was deposited in fat and was not absorbed. Faulty injection techniques.

Hormones
(153) These products are usually under the direct control of your veterinarian i.e. POM (prescription only
medicines) products. As a general statement the use of hormones that act on the ovaries to stimulate
oestrus should be avoided because the stage of the oestrus cycle cannot be accurately determined.
However at specific times their use can be advantageous. Hormones used in the pig include the
following:-

Prostaglandins
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See also chapter 8; Controlled farrowings.

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 These are substances that following injection, cause the corpus luteum to regress. The corpus luteum is
present in the ovaries during the middle period of the oestrus cycle and during pregnancy. Its removal
may either initiate oestrus, abortion or farrowing depending on the stage of the reproductive cycle. There
are three uses:

1. Given within 36 hours post-farrowing to improve subsequent fertility and litter size.
2. To resolve endometritis or womb infection.
3. To synchronise farrowing by injecting the sow from day 113 of pregnancy. Farrowing usually commences
within 24 hours.

Prostaglandins are potentially hazardous to women and should never be handled by them. Fig 4-15 shows a format
recommended for their control and use on the farm

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Milk let down products
These are hormones produced by the anterior pituitary gland at the base of the brain. Their action is to
release milk from the mammary gland and cause contractions of the uterus. They may be given to
promote the farrowing process provided there are no mechanical obstructions. They are also useful in
promoting milk flow when the udder is congested. Specific uses are discussed in chapter 7.

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