Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T21:24:26.875Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evaluation of the acute phase protein haptoglobin as an indicator of herd health in slaughter pigs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

A van den Berg ,
J Danuser ,
J Frey  and
G Regula
A van den Berg
Affiliation:
Swiss Federal Veterinary Office, Schwarzenburgstr. 155, CH-3003 Bern
J Danuser
Affiliation:
Swiss Federal Veterinary Office, Schwarzenburgstr. 155, CH-3003 Bern
J Frey
Affiliation:
Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Länggass-Strasse 122, CH-3001 Bern
G Regula*
Affiliation:
Swiss Federal Veterinary Office, Schwarzenburgstr. 155, CH-3003 Bern
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Health is an important aspect of animal welfare, which is difficult to assess at herd level. Clinical examination of individual animals is time-consuming, and most measures of clinical herd health depend significantly on the examiner. Acute phase proteins are produced during inflammatory processes, and could therefore be used as general markers of infection and injury. Our objective was to evaluate whether haptoglobin could be used to monitor the health status of herds at slaughter.

107 groups of 20 slaughter pigs each were examined at two large abattoirs. Clinical signs of tail biting, lameness, injuries, abscesses, pneumonia, pleurisy, hepatitis and gastritis were recorded. The association between elevated haptoglobin concentration in meat juice samples and clinical signs was assessed via multiple logistic regression.

Pigs from groups in which tail biting, lameness, othaematomas, abscesses, pneumonia, pleurisy, pericarditis or condemnations of livers, lungs or carcasses occurred, showed higher levels of haptoglobin than pigs from slaughter groups without any of these clinical signs. In the multiple regression model, only the variables of lameness and tail biting were statistically significant. The haptoglobin test classified 66% of all slaughter groups correctly according to the presence of these clinical signs. These results demonstrate the potential for haptoglobin to be used as a screening test to identify problem herds at slaughter.

Keywords

animal healthanimal welfarehaptoglobinimmunologymonitoringpig
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 16 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on the Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm and Group Level , May 2007 , pp. 157 - 159
Copyright
© 2007 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Baadsgaard, NP and Jorgensen, E 2003 A Bayesian approach to the accuracy of clinical observations. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 59: 189–206CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Francisco, CJ, Shryock, TR, Bane, DP and Unverzagt, L 1996 Serum haptoglobin concentration in growing swine after intranasal challenge with Bordetella bronchiseptica and toxigenic Pasteurella multocida type D. Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research 60: 222–227Google ScholarPubMed
Geers, R, Petersen, B, Huysmans, K, Knura-Deszczka, S, De Becker, M, Gymnich, S, Henot, D, Hiss, S and Sauerwein, H 2003 On-farm monitoring of pig welfare by assessment of housing, management, health records and plasma haptoglobin. Animal Welfare 12: 643–647CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, WF, Eurell, TE, Hansen, RD and Herr, LG 1992 Serum haptoglobin concentration in swine naturally or experimentally infected with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 201: 1730–1733Google ScholarPubMed
Hessing, MJ, Geudeke, MJ, Scheepens, CJ, Tielen, MJ, Schouten, WG and Wiepkema, PR 1992 Mucosal lesions in the pars esophagus in swine: prevalence and the effect of stress. Tijdschrift voor Diergeneeskunde 117: 445–450Google ScholarPubMed
Hiss, S, Knura-Deszczka, S, Regula, G, Hennies, M, Gymnich, S, Petersen, B and Sauerwein, H 2003 Development of an enzyme immuno assay for the determination of porcine haptoglobin in various body fluids: testing the significance of meat juice measurements for quality monitoring programs. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology 96: 73–82CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knura-Deszczka, S, Lipperheide, C, Jobert, JL, Bertholet-Hérault, F, Kobisch, M and Madec, F 2002 Plasma Haptoglobin Concentration in Swine After Challenge with Streptococcus suis. Journal of Veterinary Medicine Series B 49: 240–244CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipperheide, C, Diepers, N, Lampreave, F, Alava, M and Petersen, B 1998 Nephelometric determination of haptoglobin plasma concentrations in fattening pigs. Zentralblatt für Veterinärmedizin Reihe A 45: 543–550Google ScholarPubMed
Petersen, HH, Dideriksen, D, Christiansen, BM and Nielsen, JP 2002a Serum haptoglobin concentration as a marker of clinical signs in finishing pigs. Veterinary Record 151: 85–89CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersen, HH, Ersboll, AK, Jensen, CS and Nielsen, JP 2002b Serum-haptoglobin concentration in Danish slaughter pigs of different health status. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 54: 325–335CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersen, HH, Enoe, C and Nielsen, EO 2004 Observer agreement on pen level prevalence of clinical signs in finishing pigs. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 64: 147–156CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pointon, AM, Mercy, AR, Backstrom, L and Dial, GD 1992 Disease Surveillance at slaughter. In: Leman, AD, Straw, BE, Mengeling, WL, Allaire, S and Taylor, DJ (eds) Diseases of swine, 7th Edition pp 968–982. Iowa State University Press: Ames, IO, USAGoogle Scholar
Segales, J, Pineiro, C, Lampreave, F, Nofrarias, M, Mateu, E, Calsamiglia, M, Andres, M, Morales, J, Pineiro, M and Domingo, M 2004 Haptoglobin and pig-major acute protein are increased in pigs with postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). Veterinary Research 35: 275–282CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed