title: Influence of porcine circovirus type 2 vaccination on the probability and severity of pneumonia detected postmortem.
abstract: To evaluate the influence of porcine circovirus type 2 vaccination (PCV-2) on the probability and severity of pneumonia, postmortem findings of 247,505 pigs slaughtered between 2008 and 2011 were analysed by applying a cumulative link mixed model. Three major effects could be observed: (1) PCV-2 vaccination significantly (P<0.01) reduced the odds (coefficient: -0.05) of postmortem findings of mild, moderate and severe pneumonia for vaccinated pigs. (2) Pigs from fattening farms were less likely (coefficient: -0.44; P<0.05) to exhibit signs of pneumonia at slaughter than pigs from farrow-to-finish farms. (3) When vaccinated, the odds of detecting postmortem signs showed an even more pronounced reduction (coefficient: -0.19; P<0.001) for pigs from fattening farms. Combining PCV-2 vaccination, farm type and interaction effects between these two factors, a pig vaccinated against PCV-2 from a fattening farm had only half the chance (OR 0.51) of pneumonia being detected at postmortem than a non-vaccinated pig from a farrow-to-finish farm. The study demonstrates the benefit of a vaccination programme against PCV-2 as an important tool to reduce the risk of postmortem pneumonia findings and the severity of pneumonia in pigs at slaughter.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, Vienna A-1210, Austria.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Raith
authors.affiliation: Division for Data, Statistics & Risk Assessment, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Zinzendorfgasse 27/1, Graz A-8010, Austria.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuchling
authors.affiliation: Division for Data, Statistics & Risk Assessment, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Zinzendorfgasse 27/1, Graz A-8010, Austria.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schleicher
authors.affiliation: Institute for Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, Vienna A-1210, Austria.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schobesberger
authors.affiliation: Institute for Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, Vienna A-1210, Austria.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Köfer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018173:Circoviridae Infections / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D003933:Diagnosis; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000662:veterinary*; D011336:Probability; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D014765:Viral Vaccines
chemical_list: D014765:Viral Vaccines
keywords: Pneumonia; Porcine circovirus type 2; cumulative link mixed models (CLMM); pig health; slaughter findings; vaccination