Investigation of potential causes for the development of porcine ear necrosis: different study designs--comparable results?

Weissenbacher-Lang, Christiane; Voglmayr, Thomas; Weissenböck, Herbert; Pyrek, Rosmarie; Waxenecker, Franz; Hofstetter, Ursula; Hoelzle, Katharina; Hoelzle, Ludwig E; Welle, Monika Maria; Bruns, Georg; Ritzmann, Mathias (2013). Investigation of potential causes for the development of porcine ear necrosis: different study designs--comparable results? Berliner und Münchener tierärztliche Wochenschrift, 126(9-10), pp. 378-387. Schlütersche

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During the last years two studies for the investigation of the etiology of porcine ear necrosis were carried out at the Clinic for Swine of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. In study 1, parameters, which are discussed in this context, were collected by veterinary practitioners by completing specially designed questionnaires in farms with symptoms of the porcine ear necrosis syndrome. In study 2, samples of piglets and feed were collected for laboratory analysis of the most important infectious agents as well as mycotoxins. In the present manuscript, the results of both projects were compared. Even if the selection criteria of both studies differed, the affected age class was comparable (5.5 to ten weeks of life in study 1 and six to ten weeks of life in study 2). The herd-specific prevalence of the porcine ear necrosis syndrome varied considerably with percentages between 2 and 10, respectively, to 100%. The evaluation of questionnaires in study 1 showed that 51% of the farms had problems with cannibalism. Particles of plant material, which were frequently seen on the histologic slides of study 2, could have got into the tissue by chewing the ears of the pen mates or cannibalism. Whereas in study 1 the negative effect of parameters as high pig density, suboptimal climate, missing enrichment material and bad quality of feed and water were considered, in study 2 all these factors were checked at sample collection and ruled out as precursor for cannibalism. In both studies bacterial agents proved to be a crucial co-factor for the expansion of the necroses to deeper tissue layers, whereas viral pathogens were classified less important. In both projects it was not possible to estimate the direct impact of infectious agents and mycotoxins as direct trigger of the necroses as well as their participation as co-factors or precursor in the sense of an immunosuppression or previous damage of blood vessels or tissue.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	05 Veterinary Medicine > Research Foci > DermFocus 05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP) > Institute of Animal Pathology 05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP)
UniBE Contributor:	Welle, Monika Maria
Subjects:	600 Technology > 630 Agriculture
ISSN:	0005-9366
Publisher:	Schlütersche
Language:	German
Submitter:	Susanne Portner
Date Deposited:	28 Jul 2014 14:28
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:30
PubMed ID:	24199379
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/44802