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One of the Salmonella choleraesuis vaccine directions in
cludes intranasal or oral administration at 3 weeks of age or
older. Since this vaccine is an avirulent inactivated modified
live vaccine, it should be used in the absence of medications.
The pigs should be taken off all feed or water medication 2
to 3 days prior to and 3 to 5 days after administration to pre
vent destruction of the vaccine.
Label directions including withdrawal times before
slaughter should be read before any vaccination program is
finalized. Some vaccines that contain oil adjuvants advise
60-day withdrawal times.
Vaccine products vary considerably, and manufacturers’
recommendations for time of administration differ. All of
the various conditions could not be included in the timeta
ble. The producer’s veterinarian should be consulted for
specific vaccination recommendations for each situation.
For example, veterinary assistance should be used to
determine which species, strain, or serotype should be in
cluded in the selected bacterins. Vaccinations that offer sev
eral choices include Pasteurella, E. coli, Actinobacillus,
Mycoplasma, and leptospirosis.
Immunization is a complex process and many unforeseen
circumstances can interfere with the planned protection
against the specific disease. These include maternal anti
body interference, stress at the time of vaccination, poor nu
trition, and inappropriate vaccine or faulty vaccine due to
poor handling or lack of refrigeration. Administration tech
niques using improper needle length and size or wrong de
position site also can contribute to insufficient antibody
development and protection. Vaccination does not necessar
ily mean immunization.
Some operations use no vaccines yet have excellent herd
performance. These herds rely on strict sanitation and herd
exposure control methods, such as exposing young gilts to
the adult herd at least one month prior to breeding to pre
vent parvovirus and perhaps other unidentified viruses that
cause reproductive failure problems. In a well-managed
herd, growing pigs may require no vaccinations.
Segregated Early Weaning
Segregated early weaning (SEW) is a production manage
ment technique designed to control or eliminate specific
swine diseases with minimal use of vaccines and antibiotics.
Pigs are weaned at less than 21 days of age and benefit
from the protective colostral antibodies from their highly
immune dams. Pigs (usually no more than 7 days age varia
tion) are separated at weaning from the rest of the swine
herd and reared all-in, all-out by room, building or site.
Strict biosecurity measures are enforced. SEW decreases
the low-level disease in the herd and growth rate improves
in these high health status pigs. However, these high health
pigs are more susceptible to disease if exposure to infectious
agents occurs.
Control of Parasites
Before proceeding with an active deworming program,
fecal examinations from at least five pigs, each at 10 to IS
weeks and 16 to 26 weeks of age and from at least five sows
or boars should be made to determine the species of worms
present. Samples should be collected from several different
pens. Slaughter health checks also can be helpful in deter
mining the presence and extent of a parasite problem.
The dewormer effective against the parasite(s) diagnosed
should be used as recommended by the manufacturer. Fre
quently in slotted-floor systems, no worm eggs are found,
and a dewormer may not be required. The importance of
fecal exams representative of the entire herd and slaughter
health checks are stressed.
Diagnosis of mange may require skin scrapings of young
pigs or older sows and microscopic examination by a veteri
narian. If mange and/or lice are present, an intensive pro
gram for external parasite elimination is possible with a
single product or a combination of products. Injectable en
dectocides (products that remove internal and external
parasites), pour-ons and sprays are effective products for
use against mange.
Manufacturers’ recommendations should be followed in
cluding amount applied and pressure if a spray is used. Ex
ternal applications should be repeated within 7 to 10 days.
Caution should be exercised against the indiscriminate si
multaneous use of different products. Lice and mange can
be eliminated from the herd with a well-designed, veterinar
ian-assisted program.
Records
Records are important to the success of a herd health pro
gram. They enable the producer and herd health team to
identify problems in the operation and to measure the prog
ress of the program.
Farrowing records should denote the sow number, sire(s),
date of farrowing, number born, number alive, number
mummies, litter weight, weaning age and weight, and
number weaned. Any abnormalities, disease problems, and
treatments of pigs or sows should be recorded. Using a com
puter program to retrieve and compare data enhances the
value of records.
With the exception of newborn pigs, hogs that die should
generally be necropsied by the attending veterinarian or
taken to a state diagnostic laboratory. Follow the attending
veterinarian’s guidelines. Routine postmortem examina
tion, regardless of cause of death, detects chronic, slow
moving but costly diseases before they become established in
a herd. Moreover, a devastating disease may be prevented
by vaccination or treatment before serious losses occur.
Slaughter Checks
Routine slaughter checks of at least 20 percent of a pro
duction group or up to 30 market-sized hogs by a veterinar
ian will provide considerable herd health information.
Slaughter checks need to be included in the calendar to
allow the producer and veterinarian to monitor the health
status of the herd and the effectiveness of the herd health
program.
The veterinarian should inspect the lungs for bacterial
and mycoplasmal pneumonia, the liver for parasite damage,
and the snout for evidence of atrophic rhinitis. Mange,
arthritis, foot injuries, and abscesses also can be detected.
With the exception of the veterinary inspection fee, the pro
ducer incurs no financial costs from a slaughter check be
cause the carcasses are processed normally.
When the producer does not have a cooperative packer
nearby, two or three market hogs can be slaughtered at a
local plant, and arrangements can be made with a veterinar
ian to inspect the slaughter. If this alternative is not practi
cal, the lungs, liver, snout, and intestines can be collected
and taken to the veterinarian’s office for examination.
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