Main Causes of Death in Piglets from Different Brazilian Nursery Farms Based on Clinical, Microbiological, and Pathological Aspects
Jean Carlo Olivo Menegatt,
Fernanda Felicetti Perosa,
Anderson Hentz Gris,
Manoela Marchezan Piva,
Guilherme Carvalho Serena,
Diego Luiz Bordignon,
Carolina Reck,
Álvaro Menin,
Tatiane Terumi Negrão Watanabe,
David Driemeier
Affiliations
Jean Carlo Olivo Menegatt
Setor de Patologia Veterinária, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9090, Porto Alegre 91540-000, RS, Brazil
Fernanda Felicetti Perosa
Setor de Patologia Veterinária, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9090, Porto Alegre 91540-000, RS, Brazil
Anderson Hentz Gris
Setor de Patologia Veterinária, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9090, Porto Alegre 91540-000, RS, Brazil
Manoela Marchezan Piva
Setor de Patologia Veterinária, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9090, Porto Alegre 91540-000, RS, Brazil
Guilherme Carvalho Serena
Setor de Patologia Veterinária, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9090, Porto Alegre 91540-000, RS, Brazil
Diego Luiz Bordignon
Cargill Alimentos Ltd.a., Av. José Bonifácio Coutinho Nogueira, 150, Campinas 13091-611, SP, Brazil
Carolina Reck
VERTÀ Laboratórios, Instituto de Pesquisa e Diagnóstico Veterinário, Av. Lions, 1380—Nossa Senhora Aparecida, Curitibanos 89520-000, SC, Brazil
Álvaro Menin
VERTÀ Laboratórios, Instituto de Pesquisa e Diagnóstico Veterinário, Av. Lions, 1380—Nossa Senhora Aparecida, Curitibanos 89520-000, SC, Brazil
Tatiane Terumi Negrão Watanabe
Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA
David Driemeier
Setor de Patologia Veterinária, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9090, Porto Alegre 91540-000, RS, Brazil
Necropsies can reveal herd problems or comorbidities that can lead to management corrections, improvements in animal performance, and better decision making. Furthermore, the pattern and causes of mortality might differ when different systems are evaluated. The present study was conducted to establish the main causes of death in nursery pigs from different systems in Brazil, as well as the clinical, microbiological, and pathological aspects of these mortalities. Eighteen nurseries were analyzed (a total of 120,243 housed piglets), and 557 necropsies were performed. Streptococcus suis infection was the most prevalent cause of death (21.2%), followed by bacterial polyserositis (16.7%), chronic atrophic enteritis (13.5%), salmonellosis (8.8%), pneumonia (8.6%), and colibacillosis (6.1%). The increase in mortality rate in individual nurseries and, consequently, in the diagnoses was commonly associated with disease outbreaks. Infectious diseases constituted the largest portion of the diagnoses, making a great opportunity for improving production rates in herds. Moreover, the extensive range of observed diagnoses highlights the importance of conducting preliminary diagnostic investigations based on necropsy to determine the causes of death. This approach allows for the direction of complementary tests, which can diagnose agents with greater specificity. As a result, this allows for the implementation of more effective prevention and control strategies.