ESPHM 2020+1
ESPHM should actually have been held in Bern, Switzerland in 2020. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, that event was postponed. Even a full year later, however, the pandemic was still around, which is why it was decided to hold the event online, hosted from Switzerland. Heiko Nathues, president of the organising European College of Por- cine Health Management, explained that there were four keynote lectures online, four more on-demand, as well as 59 oral presenta- tions, 16 flash talks and 432 poster presentations. The 2022 edition of the event will be held in Budapest, Hungary – provided that Covid-19 is a thing of the past.
Fermentation of liquid feed diets can have positive pig health implications.
Pig health and vaccination
Lars Larsen, professor of veterinary virology at the University of Co- penhagen, Denmark, zoomed in on modified live vaccines (MLV) and addressed aspects that may need improvement. MLV, he said, are sometimes made by genetic modification, but most of the time they are created by using a wild-type strain. Attenuation will make the virus much less harmful. There are, however, some drawbacks to the MLV which are related to the fact that viruses mutate. Prof Larsen described virus recombination, sharing insights to a situa- tion in Denmark in 1992. A vaccine for Porcine Reproductive and Res- piratory Syndrome virus (PRRSv) was recombined with an existing vi- rus, which led to a “reversion to virulence”, a situation he described as “the Danish PRRSv disaster”. He also touched on a recent event in a Danish boar station, in which a recombination between two type 1
PRRS vaccine strains caused severe outbreaks in Danish pigs. Prof Larsen also wondered if virus evolution could be driven by vac- cines. It is a theory difficult to prove, he said. He also mentioned non-specific effects (NSE), positive or negative, of vaccination with MLV. He closed off saying that tighter regulations from the European Medicines Agency are to be expected with regard to MLV. He said more studies are needed to investigate NSE and also asked whether mass vaccination with MLV is really necessary in all cases.
Pig health and antibiotics
Lorenzo Fraile, associate profes- sor in epidemiology and pharma- cology at the University of Lleida in Spain, spoke about the use of drugs. Registration of veterinary medical products, he said, is a
time-consuming process, because it needs to be clear that the products are
safe for the vet or farmer, for pigs, for the envi-
ronment and ultimately for the consumer who is eating meat products. In the context of that process, Prof Fraile mentioned the phenomenon of “pharmacovigilance”, or the habit of the veterinary community to keep an eye on the practical effects of drugs – and the reporting in
case things turn out differently than expected. In pigs, he said, pharma- cological events are relatively low compared to, for example, in pets. He wondered if that would be a matter of underreporting. Another interesting point was the fact that a set percentage of pigs need to be tested for residue levels. The number of non-compliant samples with regards to withdrawal periods, he said, is extremely low in pig production. That suggested that the withdrawal period is almost always respected. In the context of the “One Health” principle, Prof Fraile mentioned the European classification of drugs, from categories A to D.
He said that vets should not only try to justify the use of antibiotics, but the classification should also guide them to select the best possible anti- biotics for every occasion, in order to use them as prudently as possible.
▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 37, No. 4, 2021 7
PHOTO: BERT JANSEN
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