New Lung Programme Helps Pig Farmers Review Respiratory Diseases
GLOBAL - Two organisms that can cause serious respiratory diseases in pigs are the bacteria Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and Actinobacillus pleuropneumonia. Vaccination is used to help farmers prevent infections but due to complexities, vaccination procedures may need to be reviewed or improved.M. hyopneumoniae is in fact endemic in most pig herds around the world. The organism is often transmitted through the movement of infected pigs or by wind-borne infection.
As it is usually a subclinical disease, it can often go unnoticed until it is too late.
The bacterium A. pleuropneumoniae is carried in the tonsils and consists of at least twelve different serotypes, most of which can cause severe disease and sudden death.
Offering an easy and practical way to evaluate the presence, incidence and impact of M. hyopneumoniae and A. pleuropneumoniae in pig herds, Ceva has launched its innovative Ceva Lung Programme.
The programme gives pig farmers and veterinarians the ability to assess the quality of the respiratory disease management currently in place at the farm and to guide the implementation of actions to reach better respiratory health.
By using lung scoring methodology, the programme looks at broncho-pneumonia lesions, scarring and pleurisy, among other things, that are caused by the presence of these bacteria.
As a part of the Ceva Lung Programme, there is an application to record results of lung scoring which is easy to use and can be downloaded FREE onto a tablet from the App store or from Google Play in 18 different languages.
The app also allows the user to document the scoring and email the results.
From using the app, farmers and health care professionals will easily be able to identify if current vaccination protocols are working or not and what may need to be done to improve the situation.