Detection and genetic diversity of porcine rotavirus A,B and C in eastern Australian piggeries

Rotaviruses (RV) have a high prevalence in piggeries worldwide and are one of the major pathogens causing severe diarrhoea in young pigs. RV species A, B, and C have been linked to piglet diarrhoea in Australian pig herds, but their genetic diversity has not been studied in detail. Based on sequencing of the structural viral protein 7 (VP7) RVA G genotypes G3, G4 and G5, and RVC types G1, G3, G5, and G6 have been identified in Australian piggeries in previous studies. Although occurrence of RVB was reported in Australia in 1988, no further genetic analysis has been conducted. To improve health management decisions in Australian pig herds, more information on RV prevalence and genetic diversity is needed. Here, 243 enteric samples collected from 20 pig farms within Eastern Australia were analysed for the presence of RV in different age groups using a novel PCR-based multiplex assay (Pork MultiPath™ enteric panel). RVA, RVB, and RVC were detected in 10, 14, and 14 farms, respectively. Further sequencing of VP7 in selected RV-positive samples revealed G genotypes G2, G5, G9 (RVA), G6, G8, G14, G16, G20 (RVB), and G1, G3, G5, G6 (RVC) present. RVA was only detected in young (<10 weeks old) pigs whereas RVB and RVC were also detected in older animals (>11 weeks old). Interestingly, RVB and RVC G-type occurrence differed between age groups. In conclusion, this study provides new insights on the prevalence and diversity of different RV species in pig herds of Eastern Australia whilst demonstrating the ability of the Pork MultiPath™ technology to accurately differentiate between these RV species.     

Preparation of Adjuvant Diluent for Live Vaccine against Classical Swine Fever and Evaluation of its Immune Effects

The aim of this study was to develop a novel oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion as adjuvant diluents (AD) for live vaccine against classical swine fever (CSF) that could effectively enhance the immune effect of vaccine.The AD was prepared by high-pressure homogenization technique.Formulations and preparation parameters were optimized with response surface design.Its stability, particle size, polydispersity (PDI) and Zeta potential were characterized.The humoral immune response and cellular immune response of the AD were evaluated with BALB/c mice by intramuscular injection.The particle size of the AD prepared by optimized formulation and parameters was 100.4 nm, PDI was 0.147, and Zeta potential was —28.7 mV.The experiment results showed that the AD had good stability.The AD was inoculated combined with live vaccine against CSF into BALB/c mice by intramuscular injection.The results showed that the live vaccine against CSF specific immune responses could be evoked in mice by co-inoculation with AD and vaccine.The cellular immune response levels in co-inoculated groups were significantly higher than control group (P<0.05), with obvious phenomena of higher levels of IFN-γ, IL-6 and IL-4 in serum.The result revealed that cellular immune capability significantly improved with the AD.The results strongly revealed that cellular immune capability significantly improved by introducing AD for effective immune-adjuvant for live vaccine against CSF.     

非洲猪瘟疫情下猪育种面临的困境与对策

自2018年8月以来暴发的非洲猪瘟疫情给我国猪育种和生猪生产带来了极大的困扰，育种体系遭受重创。文章综述了非洲猪瘟对我国育种体系的影响、育种工作面临的困境与挑战以及非洲猪瘟形势下猪育种的对策。     

非洲猪瘟疫情背景下兽医公共卫生学课程的教学策略

兽医公共卫生学是利用一切与人类和动物健康问题有关的理论知识、实践活动和物资资源,为人类健康事业服务的一门综合性应用学科,在动物性食品安全、动物疫病及人兽共患病方面发挥着重要的防线作用。针对当前我国发生的非洲猪瘟疫情,在阐述兽医公共卫生学重要性的基础上,分析了兽医公共卫生学课程的教学策略,以期打破对兽医专业认识的局限性,强化理解兽医公共卫生的意义,提升兽医公共卫生学的课程价值,并为优化教学内容、提高教学质量提供指导。     

猪弓形虫病诊断与防治

猪弓形虫病是由刚地弓形虫感染引发的一种血液原虫病,该种疾病属于人畜共患病和典型的免疫性疾病,可以在多种牲畜群体中寄生。猪群一旦受到弓形虫感染,病情会快速传播,蔓延防控不及时,还会造成整个猪群全部发病,死亡率有时高达60%以上,是危害生猪养殖产业的常发病和高发病。因此,需要加强流行病学调查,在疾病进入流行高发期前,采取针对性措施防控,提高防控效果,降低发病率,保障养殖安全。该文探讨猪弓形虫病的流行病学、临床症状、病理变化、诊断方法和防治措施。     

益生菌大肠杆菌Nissle 1917抗逆性能、猪肠上皮细胞黏附率及抑菌效果研究

本试验旨在研究益生菌大肠杆菌Nissle 1917(Ec N)抗逆性能、猪肠上皮细胞黏附率及抑菌效果。采用体外法对Ec N进行生长曲线绘制和耐酸、耐胆盐、耐热性能的测定;以猪肠上皮细胞IPEC-J2细胞为体外细胞模型,考察了Ec N对该细胞的黏附率以及对致病菌大肠杆菌K88的黏附抑制率;同时通过蛋白质印迹法检测了Ec N对IPEC-J2细胞β-防御素-2和Toll样受体4的水平的影响。结果表明:1)Ec N对高酸、高胆盐和高温环境具有一定耐受能力。2)Ec N对IPEC-J2细胞的黏附作用以对数期最佳,黏附率达33.96%,显著高于迟缓期、稳定期和衰亡期(P0.05)。3)Ec N对致病菌大肠杆菌K88具有良好的抑制效果,黏附抑制率达87.84%。4)Ec N还能上调IPEC-J2细胞β-防御素-2和Toll样受体4水平。结果提示,益生菌Ec N具有较好的抗逆性能,能够良好地黏附猪肠上皮细胞,对致病菌大肠杆菌K88具有良好的抑制作用。     

Nutritional approaches to slow late finishing pig growth: implications on carcass composition and pork quality

Although pork producers typically aim to optimize growth rates, occasionally it is necessary to slow growth, such as when harvest facility capacity is limited. In finishing pigs, numerous dietary strategies can be used to slow growth so pigs are at optimal slaughter body weights when harvest facility capacity and/or access is restored. However, the impact of these diets on pork carcass quality is largely unknown. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of dietary strategies to slow growth in late finishing pigs and evaluate their effects on carcass composition and pork quality. Mixed-sex pigs (n = 897; 125 ± 2 kg BW) were randomly allotted across 48 pens and assigned to 1 of 6 dietary treatments (n = 8 pens/treatment): (1) Control diet representative of a typical finisher diet (CON); (2) diet containing 3% calcium chloride (CaCl₂); (3) diet containing 97% corn and no soybean meal (Corn); (4) diet deficient in isoleucine (LowIle); (5) diet containing 15% neutral detergent fiber (NDF) from soybean hulls (15% NDF); and (6) diet containing 20% NDF from soybean hulls (20% NDF). Over 42 d, pen body weights and feed disappearance were collected. Pigs were harvested in 3 groups (14, 28, and 42 d on feed) and carcass data collected. From the harvest group, 1 loin was collected from 120 randomly selected carcasses (20 loins/treatment) to evaluate pork quality traits. Overall, ADG was reduced in CaCl₂, Corn, and 20% NDF pigs compared with CON pigs (P < 0.001). However, ADFI was only reduced in CaCl₂ and 20% NDF pigs compared with CON (P < 0.001). Feed efficiency was reduced in CaCl₂ and Corn pigs compared with CON (P < 0.001). Hot carcass weights were reduced in CaCl₂ pigs at all harvest dates (P < 0.001) and were reduced in Corn and 20% NDF pigs at days 28 and 42 compared with CON pigs (P < 0.001). In general, CaCl₂ and 20% NDF diets resulted in leaner carcasses, whereas the Corn diet increased backfat by 42 d on test (P < 0.05). Loin pH was reduced and star probe increased in CaCl₂ pigs compared with CON pigs (P < 0.05); no treatments differed from CON pigs regarding drip loss, cook loss, color, firmness, or marbling (P ≥ 0.117). Overall, these data indicate that several dietary strategies can slow finishing pig growth without evidence of behavioral vices. However, changes to carcass composition and quality were also observed, indicating quality should be taken into consideration when choosing diets to slow growth.     

Validating the effectiveness of alternative euthanasia techniques using penetrating captive bolt guns in mature swine (Sus scrofa domesticus)

Euthanasia of mature swine is challenging. Temporal and behind-the-ear locations are two sites that have been identified as alternatives to the more commonly used frontal placement. In stage one, the effectiveness of two penetrating captive bolt gun styles (cylinder or pistol) was evaluated using frontal, temporal, and behind-the-ear placement in anesthetized mature swine (n = 36; weight: 267 ± 41 kg). For stage one, when evaluating treatment efficacy by sex, the cylinder-style equipment was 100% effective in achieving death when applied to all cranial locations (frontal, temporal, and behind-the-ear) for sows; however, the pistol-style equipment was only 100% effective when applied at the behind-the-ear location for sows. For boars, the cylinder-style equipment was 100% effective when applied to the frontal and behind-the-ear location, but the pistol-style equipment was not effective for any cranial location in boars. Therefore, the pistol–frontal, pistol–temporal, pistol–behind-the-ear, and cylinder–temporal were not included for boars, and pistol–frontal and pistol–temporal were not included for sows in stage two. In stage two, commercial, mixed-breed, mature swine (n = 42; weight: 292 +/− 56 kg) were randomly assigned to one of four treatments based on the inclusion criteria described in stage one. A three-point traumatic brain injury (TBI) score (0 = normal; 1 = some abnormalities; 2 = grossly abnormal, unrecognizable) was used to evaluate six neuroanatomical structures (cerebral cortex, cerebellum, hypothalamus, thalamus, pons, and brain stem), and the presence of hemorrhage was also noted. All treatments were 100% effective in stage two. A significant interaction between gun style and placement was determined on predicting total TBI as the cylinder style produced a higher total TBI score compared with the pistol type of the magnitude of +2.8 (P < 0.01). The cylinder style tended to produce a greater TBI score than the pistol in the temporal location (+1.2; P = 0.08). No difference was noted for TBI score behind-the-ear between the cylinder- and pistol-style gun (P > 0.05). TBI tended to be less in boars compared with sows (−0.6; P = 0.08). Hemorrhage was observed in frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes. This study demonstrated that the cylinder-style captive bolt gun more effectively resulted in brain trauma and death compared with a pistol-style gun and the behind-the-ear and temporal placement showed promise as an alternative placement site for euthanizing mature pigs on-farm.     

猪急性腹泻综合征冠状病毒SYBR Green荧光定量PCR检测方法的建立及应用

为建立快速、灵敏且特异的检测猪急性腹泻综合征冠状病毒（swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus,SADS-CoV）检测方法,本试验扩增SADS-CoV N基因保守区域将其克隆至pMD18-T载体。所构建的重组质粒pMD18-T-SADS-qN作为阳性质粒标准品,以其为模板建立一种SYBR Green荧光定量PCR检测方法。结果显示,所建立方法在3.31×10¹~3.31×10⁷拷贝·μL^-1模板量时,呈良好的线性关系,相关系数（R²）为0.997,斜率为-3.318。该方法特异性检测SADS-CoV;而猪流行性腹泻病毒（PEDV）、猪传染性胃肠炎病毒（TGEV）、猪德尔塔冠状病毒（PDCoV）和猪繁殖与呼吸综合征病毒（PRRSV）检测结果均为阴性。所构建的标准品检测灵敏度下限可以达到3.31×10¹拷贝·μL^-1,组内和组间变异系数均小于1%,表明其具有良好的灵敏性和重复性。用该方法检测SADS-CoV感染IPI-2I和IPEC-J2细胞后不同时间点和不同接毒剂量的复制情况,结果显示,SADS-CoV感染细胞后2 h病毒含量较低,在12~36 h病毒含量迅速增长,36 h后增长速度减缓且病毒含量维持在较高水平。分别用0、0.1、1 MOI SADS-CoV感染细胞结果显示病毒的mRAN转录水平呈现剂量依赖性增加,当MOI为1时,IPI-2I和IPEC-J2细胞病毒含量分别为10^6.7、10^5.3拷贝·mL^-1。进一步利用所建立的方法对经口服攻毒SADS-CoV仔猪的临床样本进行检测,结果发现病毒在空肠回肠含量较高,表明病毒主要定殖于空肠和回肠。综上表明,本研究建立SYBR Green荧光定量PCR检测方法能灵敏特异地检测SADS-CoV,为SADS-CoV的诊断和病毒相关基础研究提供可靠的检测手段。