APP is transmitted via air as well as through direct contact. Infection in animals happens by droplet infection. An Infection is advantaged by housing with grids, changing coves and tracks for excrements as well as by frequent change of location of the animals within the breeding period.

Lung of a pig with AAP

‘Infection with occurs in every age; however, mainly affected are pigs aged between 2^nd and 6^th month. Most notably, economic losses occur in mast farms. Symptoms range from aching cough, breathing through the mouth, loss of appetite, high fever to impaired behaviour in general. Economic losses are caused by higher costs for feeding, because the animals can´t use the feed anymore as effective as before; breeding therefore is prolonged and medical therapy produces high costs.

Healthy lung

The animals lose a lot of weight and grow slower. Their bristles are dull and matt. Opening the chest, adhesions between lung and chest wall stand out. Mostly, in the pulmonary tissue one can find some lumps, filled with matter and of different sizes. The affected areas of the lung seem to be compact and heavy and are coloured dark red.

Combatting is rather difficult, because APP rarely occurs separately on the farm; usually it comes along with another virus/germ, which hardens therapy and increases costs.

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Shortly before their last walk we were there once again and took pictures.

The stables which are nowadays common physically as well are a strain to the pigs.

X15 doesn't guess anything of his upcoming death.

The pig fattening takes place in huge halls.

More up to date pictures of X15 and his brothers and sisters in the pig fattening you can find on flickr.

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Being in a small box, the mother is not able to take care for her piglets.

If piglets are in freedom, they are 4 months next to their mother. First abroad the group and afterwards in a group, there exists an intimate connection between mother and children. Piglets learn much from their mother and being social.

It is not the same if pigs are kept in an intensive holding. Right after 3 to 4 weeks piglets are separated from their mother and go to the so called pre-mast. In this period and later in the end-mast they are in groups. Just being one month old, the little pigs have to care for themselves. Before that the mother was next to them, but had no opportunity to help them, to sniff, to lick or to snuggle them.

But what about the further life in the mast?

Full slatted floor:

Full slatted floors are not suitable for the needs of pigs – they only make the working for the staff easier.

Full slatted floors are extreme practically – at the same time they act as a dunging. Excrementals and urines shall flow through the slatted floors or kicked though it. Directly under the floors the excrementals are collected in a canal. That is en extreme burden for the fine nose of the pigs. The nose of pigs is as sensible as the nose of dogs, nobody in Austria would treat his dog like this. But pigs are an exception.

A further burden on those full slatted floors is the development of dangerous gases (ammonia gas). The whole time pigs have to breathe these gases. They often get an inflammation of their air ways. 85,5% of mast pigs in Austria live on full slatted floors!

Material for occupation

Male piglets are castrated without anaesthesia in their first days of life.

Normally there should be laws to give materials for occupation, so that the intelligent pigs get something to play (especially important for piglets). But many factories do not offer those materials. As human children like to play, also little pigs like to play. But with what, when there are only naked slatted floors? The consequence is, that farrows often occupy with the tails, ears or the flanks of their fellow sufferers. Not less they bite in the body parts, it can degenerate to cannibalism.

To avoid that, the tails are often cut in the first days of piglet-life. Without anaesthesia, pain killer or aftercare this painful procedure is done by the farmer. Although this is not allowed as a preventive method, it is a routine method in Austria. But pigs also bite in short tails, because they are bored.

Nowadays some factories offer materials for occupation, mostly iron chains or wooden stacks. But pigs are very intelligent, soon they will being bored because the toys are not changeable. The best material would be organic material, e.g. straw. Pigs can dig into the straw, build a nest, eat and nosh it. But straw is not compatible with the full slatted floors, they will get choked, so most factories do not use straw. Economic efficiency is more important than animal welfare.

98,7% of mast pigs are living without straw litter!
80,3% of all pigs do not have any material for occupation!

Space

A further problem in the mast is the little space. The lawful space is 0,7m² for a pig of 110kg, that is laughable: if a pig of 110kg lies down and stretches its legs, it needs 1m². Pigs in freedom use three spaces: a sleeping berth, a place for excrementals and space where they can busy with foraging and ingestion. Pigs in intensive holding do not have this. They have only little space where they must sleep, eat and go to toilet!

Medicine

Animals which are in a mast, get many medicine, otherwise they would not survive the intensive holding. The stench, the building of ammonia gases because of excrementals, that are inhaled the whole time, causes inflammation of air ways. They cough, catch a cold, some pigs even get asthma. Only while getting medicaments the animals are able do live.

All factories give medicine to their pigs! Pigs – also X 15 – have to live under these disastrous conditions, until they reach their slaughter.

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Since 1980 not only the description of influenzal virus but also the host is used (WHO) for a better description. Furthermore facts like geographic layer of isolation, a continously laboratory number, the year of isolation and the structure of antigen surface can be denoted. The pathogen of the classical swine influenza has the antigen surface H1N1. The exactly description of the first isolate from the year 1939 is called: A/swine/Iowa/15/30 (H1N1).

There exist classical types (characters of a pathogen, here H1N1), aviary H1N1 subtypes (descends from birds) and H3N2 subtypes as pathogens of swine influenza. H1N2 and H1N7 are pathogens of clinical influenzal symptoms of swine influenza, too.

You get the virus through the nasopharynx. An intensive reproduction takes place in the epithelium of the bronchia. Symptome caused by the influenza are: anorexia, aversion of agitation, fever, sneezing, pumping breathing and cough. If you ride the infection out, you are immunised actively.

Probably continuous infected animals are responsible for extension. H1N1 subtypes may be evidenced on humans, birds and other animals.

In Europe pigs are predominantly infected with aviary H1N1 or human H3N2. Classical H1N1 suptypes are diffused in North- and South America, Europe and Asia, aviary H1N1 suptypes it gives in Europe and Asia, human H3N2 subtypes exist in North- and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, aviary H3N2 are diffused in Asia, classical human H1N2 exist in Asia and human H1N2 it gives in Europe (BROWN 2000).

The proof of pathogen you get by a probe of nasal swab, when the virus is diffused in the whole organism. Because the pathogen has a high virulence (especially through the air) it is difficult to get an virus-free area. But in 1984 it was possible to immunise farrows (aged six to nine weeks) successfully while giving them a double inoculation.

In the year 2001 nine pig farms were tested for influenza in a field study. Therefore 17 pigs of every pig farm got a blood letting to determine influenzal virus. The result was the following: The types H1N1 and H3N2 could be found in three farms. In one farm there existed the type H1N1 and in further three farms the type H3N2 could be found. So in seven of nine pig farms influenzal virus could be detected.

22 of 153 probes reacted positive to H1N1. The type H3N2 could be detected in 33 probes. 90 (young) pigs were influenzed by the type H1N1, 13 probes by the type H3N2 and nine probes by both types.

5 of 27 probes from (old) pigs were influenzed by H1N1, 4 probes by H1N1 and H3N2. 3 of 36 probes from (young) pigs were influenzed by H1N1, 6 probes by H3N2 and one probe by H1N1 and H3N2.

To make a prophylaxis, it is useful to inoculate also on pathogens that did not yet appear.

Furthermore symptoms of disease should be eliminated or reduced. Because of the high virolence especially through the air and the worldwide extension it makes sense to inoculate against swine influenza (analogue to the human influenza).

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How does that look like for you?

Behind bars.

X15 and his brothers and sisters permanently live on a slatted floor.

Our camera seems to pique curiosity....

More up-to-date pictures you can find on our latest flickr-album.

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Rearing of pigs means feeding as the main task for the pigs. The aim is to make the pigs gain between 600 and 800 grams per day. Only by this way a final weight between 100 and 120 kg can be achieved within something more than four months of rearing.

Rearing of pigs mostly also means living on a slatted floor.

Rearing of pigs in Austria.

More pictures on Flickr.

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The four to five months, which it takes to fatten an average pig in Austria, mean to gain weight from something over 30 kg to about 110 kg.

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The difference between open and closed business we will explain in the following. In an open business farrows are bought from different farrow producers, the risk of infection is very high. A closed business produces its own farrows. Here the risk of infection is lower and because of this the using of medicine is lower, too. The condition therefore is that the farrows are accustomed the germs in the stable. When new animals are bought (open business) they have to be treatened at arrival with prophylactical medicine.

In every case mast pigs get an immunisation against mykoplasmas and often an anthelmintic therapy. Mykoplasmas are germs that may cause pneumonia. The ambition of every carrier is to decrease the using of medicine. But in reality it´s often not possible to pass on medicine while becoming a mast weight of 110 kg. If the hygiene standard is high and the choice of farrow producers is well-considered, it is possible to reduce the using of medicine strongly.

Before arrival or change over of the farrows it is neccessary to clean and disinfect the stable very well. If slatted floor (concrete) is used, the column width must be at least 18 mm and the area of support at least 80 mm. Relocated farrows, mast pigs and breeding pigs have to be in groups. Animals under 30 kg must have a living area of 0,30 qm, animals up to 50 kg an area of 0,40 qm and animals up to the weight of 110 kg an living area of 0,70 qm.

If the pigs cannot get outside, the stables must have windows or other open/transparent areas which give daylight. Those areas have to be at least 3 % of the stable floorspace. On one day pigs have to get a 8-hours-light of minimum 40 lux.

Furthermore pigs need a permanent access to materials for exercise and movement (e.g. straw, wood or ball).

All pigs must have an access to drinking water. At least one time a day they have to be feeded. Concerning group holding the feeding place must be:

For X15 it is time to eat, sleep and put on weight. X15 lives in a closed business, the using of medicine is near zero.

Nearly always mast pigs get medicine over the food. So not only sick animals get a treatment, but also those who are healthy. In companies with some hundred mast places a treatment with injections is nearly not possible. Some companies use medicine before animals become sick to prevent a breakout of a sickness.

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