Field efficacy study of a novel ready-to-use vaccine against mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and porcine circovirus type 2 in a Greek farm

Eleni D Tzika; Panagiotis D Tassis; Dimitrios Koulialis; Vassileios G Papatsiros; Tom Nell; Georgia Brellou; Ioannis Tsakmakidis

doi:10.1186/s40813-015-0006-x

Field efficacy study of a novel ready-to-use vaccine against mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and porcine circovirus type 2 in a Greek farm

Porcine Health Manag. 2015 Nov 1:1:15. doi: 10.1186/s40813-015-0006-x. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Eleni D Tzika¹, Panagiotis D Tassis¹, Dimitrios Koulialis², Vassileios G Papatsiros³, Tom Nell⁴, Georgia Brellou⁵, Ioannis Tsakmakidis¹

Affiliations

¹ Farm Animals Clinic, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
² Lagou 59, 41334 Larissa, Greece.
³ Clinic of Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Thessaly, Trikalon 224, P.O. Box 199, Karditsa, Greece.
⁴ MSD Animal Health, Clinical Study Team Biologicals, P.O. Box 31, 5830 AA Boxmeer, The Netherlands.
⁵ Laboratory of Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.

Abstract

Background: The primary objective of this study was to assess the efficacy, under field conditions, of a novel ready-to use Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M hyo) and Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) combination vaccine given to piglets as one vaccination (1-shot) at 3 weeks of age. The study was carried out according to a controlled, randomised, and blinded design in a Greek pig herd with clinical M. hyo and subclinical PCV2 infection. Moreover, based on serology at the time of vaccination, the average PCV2 titre was 9.15 log₂ and represented the level of maternally derived antibodies (MDA). In total 602 healthy suckling piglets, originating from 4 weekly farrowing batches were allocated randomly, within litters, to one of two groups. The pigs in one group were vaccinated with the test product and the other pigs were injected with saline.

Results: Vaccination significantly reduced lesions of craneo-ventral pulmonary consolidation in vaccinated group [expressed as lung lesion score (LLS)] (Mixed model ANOVA: p < 0.0001). The mean LLS was 17.1 in the controls and 10.6 in the treatment group, respectively. The average daily weight gain (ADWG) during the finishing (54 g better in the treatment group) and whole study period (34 g better in vaccinated animals) was significantly greater in vaccinated than control pigs. The vaccinated pigs had a significant reduction of PCV2 viraemia when compared with the controls.

Conclusions: The test product was considered effective in the face of average MDA, based on significantly reduced severity of LLS and PCV2 viral load, as well as improved ADWG in vaccinated versus control pigs.

Keywords: Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae; Pigs; Porcilis PCV M Hyo; Porcine circovirus; Vaccination.