Associations between EP-like lesions and pleuritis and post trimming carcass weights of finishing pigs in England

Brewster, V R; Maiti, H C; Tucker, A W; Nevel, A

Abstract

Herd health slaughter checks regularly identify enzootic pneumonia-like (EP-like) lesions and pleuritis. The aim of this paper is to determine the associations between these lesions and post-trimming carcass weight. Data were collected on the presence/absence and severity of EP-like lesions and presence/absence of pleuritis from pigs at the abattoir. Linear mixed models identified a significant association between an increase in EP-like lesion severity and a decrease in post-trimming carcass weight (P = 0.006) at the individual level. Each categorical increase in EP-like lesion severity (5 points step) was associated with a 0.37 kg reduction in post-trimming carcass weight. The presence of EP-like lesions in individual pigs, irrespective of severity (P = 0.034) and the presence of pleuritis (P = 0.038) were significantly associated with a reduction in post-trimming carcass weight of 1.26 kg and 1.25 kg respectively. The results confirm that the presence of these lesions at slaughter are associated with a significant decrease in production performance which can result in substantial economic implications for producers.

Citation

Brewster, V. R., Maiti, H. C., Tucker, A. W., & Nevel, A. (2017). Associations between EP-like lesions and pleuritis and post trimming carcass weights of finishing pigs in England. Livestock Science, 201, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2017.04.012

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 22, 2017
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Apr 25, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 1, 2018
• Journal: Livestock Science
• Print ISSN: 1871-1413
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 201
• Pages: 1-4
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2017.04.012
• Keywords: Associations; Carcass weight; Enzootic pneumonia; Lesions; Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae; Pigs
• Public URL: https://rvc-repository.worktribe.com/output/1391374