title: Assessment of litter prevalence of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae in preweaned piglets utilizing an antemortem tracheobronchial mucus collection technique and a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay.
abstract: The swine industry currently lacks validated antemortem methods of detecting baseline herd prevalence of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. The focus of our study was to evaluate alternative antemortem detection techniques and to determine baseline litter prevalence in preweaned pig populations utilizing the selected technique and a real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay. Preliminary data was analyzed on weaned piglets with evidence of respiratory disease (n = 32). Five sample types (antemortem nasal swab, tracheobronchial mucus, postmortem deep airway swab, bronchoalveolar lavage, and lung tissue) were collected from each pig. Individual samples were tested for M. hyopneumoniae using qPCR. Compared to nasal swabs, tracheobronchial mucus demonstrated higher test sensitivity (P < 0.0001). Tracheobronchial mucus was collected from apparently healthy preweaned piglets (n = 1,759; sow farms 1-3) and preweaned piglets exhibiting signs of respiratory disease (n = 32; sow farm 4), ranging in age from 12 to 25 days. Samples from sow farms 1-3 were pooled into 2 groups of 5 per litter (n = 360 pools from 180 litters), and qPCR was utilized to analyze each pool. A qPCR-positive result, threshold cycle <37, from either pool designated the litter positive for M. hyopneumoniae. Two out of 180 litters revealed a positive result (1.1%). Individual qPCR assays were run on the samples collected from sow farm 4. Five out of 30 samples revealed a positive result (16.7%). Tracheobronchial mucus collection in combination with qPCR is a sensitive antemortem sampling technique that can be used to estimate the prevalence of M. hyopneumoniae in preweaned pigs, thus providing insight into the infection dynamics across the entire farrow-to-finish process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine (Karriker, Main, Hammen, Bates, Harmon, Abate, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IASwine Medicine Education Center (Karriker, Hammen, Bates, Thomas, Ellingson, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IAElanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN (Vangroenweghe, Christianson, Marsteller) vangroenweghe.frederic@telenet.be.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vangroenweghe
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine (Karriker, Main, Hammen, Bates, Harmon, Abate, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IASwine Medicine Education Center (Karriker, Hammen, Bates, Thomas, Ellingson, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IAElanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN (Vangroenweghe, Christianson, Marsteller).
authors.forename: Locke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Karriker
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine (Karriker, Main, Hammen, Bates, Harmon, Abate, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IASwine Medicine Education Center (Karriker, Hammen, Bates, Thomas, Ellingson, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IAElanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN (Vangroenweghe, Christianson, Marsteller).
authors.forename: Rodger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Main
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine (Karriker, Main, Hammen, Bates, Harmon, Abate, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IASwine Medicine Education Center (Karriker, Hammen, Bates, Thomas, Ellingson, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IAElanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN (Vangroenweghe, Christianson, Marsteller).
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Christianson
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine (Karriker, Main, Hammen, Bates, Harmon, Abate, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IASwine Medicine Education Center (Karriker, Hammen, Bates, Thomas, Ellingson, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IAElanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN (Vangroenweghe, Christianson, Marsteller).
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Marsteller
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine (Karriker, Main, Hammen, Bates, Harmon, Abate, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IASwine Medicine Education Center (Karriker, Hammen, Bates, Thomas, Ellingson, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IAElanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN (Vangroenweghe, Christianson, Marsteller).
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hammen
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine (Karriker, Main, Hammen, Bates, Harmon, Abate, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IASwine Medicine Education Center (Karriker, Hammen, Bates, Thomas, Ellingson, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IAElanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN (Vangroenweghe, Christianson, Marsteller).
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bates
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine (Karriker, Main, Hammen, Bates, Harmon, Abate, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IASwine Medicine Education Center (Karriker, Hammen, Bates, Thomas, Ellingson, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IAElanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN (Vangroenweghe, Christianson, Marsteller).
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine (Karriker, Main, Hammen, Bates, Harmon, Abate, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IASwine Medicine Education Center (Karriker, Hammen, Bates, Thomas, Ellingson, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IAElanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN (Vangroenweghe, Christianson, Marsteller).
authors.forename: Josh
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ellingson
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine (Karriker, Main, Hammen, Bates, Harmon, Abate, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IASwine Medicine Education Center (Karriker, Hammen, Bates, Thomas, Ellingson, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IAElanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN (Vangroenweghe, Christianson, Marsteller).
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harmon
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine (Karriker, Main, Hammen, Bates, Harmon, Abate, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IASwine Medicine Education Center (Karriker, Hammen, Bates, Thomas, Ellingson, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IAElanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN (Vangroenweghe, Christianson, Marsteller).
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abate
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Diagnostic & Production Animal Medicine (Karriker, Main, Hammen, Bates, Harmon, Abate, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IASwine Medicine Education Center (Karriker, Hammen, Bates, Thomas, Ellingson, Crawford), College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IAElanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN (Vangroenweghe, Christianson, Marsteller).
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Crawford
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001980:Bronchi / Q000382:microbiology; D007484:Iowa / Q000453:epidemiology; D045705:Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D045729:Pneumonia of Swine, Mycoplasmal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D015995:Prevalence; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000662:veterinary; D013552:Swine; D014132:Trachea / Q000382:microbiology; D014886:Weaning
keywords: Mucus; Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae; pigs; prevalence; sampling; tracheobronchial