African swine fever (ASF) is a devastating disease of swine and the most important disease for the pork industry. Since the outbreaks in 2007 in the Caucasian region, it has been spreading to the West and East quite swiftly. In this study we have analyzed the clinical signs and pathological features of the first outbreaks on ASF in Vietnam in 2019, caused by an isolate with 100% similarity to the genotype II (p72) isolates from Georgia in 2007 and China in 2018. The disease onset with a peracute to acute clinical course with high mortality. Some animals showed very unspecific clinical signs with other showing severe hyperthermia, respiratory distress, diarrhea, or vomit. Hemorrhagic splenomegaly and lymphadenitis were the main lesions observed at post mortem examination, with histopathological changes confirming the lymphoid depletion and multiorganic hemorrhages. Monocyte-macrophages were identified by means of immunohistochemical methods as the main target cell for the ASF virus in tissue sections.

Recent studies have shown that probiotic supplementation during late gestation exerts some beneficial effects on reproductive performance of the sows. This study aimed to investigate effects of Bacillus subtilis QST 713 supplementation in gilts on different reproductive criteria. A total of 94 Camborough-48 gilts at day 85 of gestation were randomly allocated into 2 groups: (1) control diet; (2) control diet + 4 × 108 CFU Bacillus subtilis QST 713 per day. Gilts were supplemented until farrowing. At farrowing, litter size, number of piglets born alive, stillbirths, mummies, birth weight, farrowing duration, and birth interval were recorded. Within litter variation of piglet birth weight, depicted as SDBW and CVBW, was also calculated. Results showed that Bacillus subtilis QST 713 supplementation decreased stillbirth rate (1.26 vs. 4.37%, p = 0.035 ) and increased birth weight of the piglets (1303.94 vs. 1234.09 g, p = 0.007 ). Also, the litter size (11.85 vs. 10.67, p = 0.03 ), number of piglets born alive (11.71 vs. 10.23, p = 0.008 ), and litter weight (15473.06 vs. 13174.86 g, p = 0.002 ) in the treatment group were higher than those in the control. Farrowing duration (174.39 vs. 160.81 minutes, p = 0.162 ), birth interval (16.32 vs. 16.59 minutes, p = 0.674 ), SDBW (85.07 vs. 94.65 g, p = 0.343 ), and CVBW (6.42 vs. 7.85, p = 0.12 ) were independent of the Bacillus subtilis QST 713 supplementation. Results of the present study indicate that supplementation of Bacillus subtilis QST 713 during late gestation in gilts reduces stillbirth and increases birth weight thereby improving their reproductive performance.

Prolonged farrowing duration increases stillbirth in piglets and affects maternal health leading to a decrease in the reproductive performance of the sow. The present study aimed to predict the duration of postpartum vaginal discharge (PVD, day) in sows. Data were collected from 204 mixed parity Landrace X Yorkshire sows in a swine farm in Bacninh province, Vietnam. Parity, gestation length, litter size, number of dead-born piglets (NDB), farrowing duration (FD, h), and manual extraction (ME) were recorded. Postpartum vaginal discharge was monitored twice a day until no discharge was detected in two successive observations. Linear regression analysis was used to build the model that best predicted the duration of postpartum vaginal discharge. Results showed that the average duration of postpartum vaginal discharge was 3.3 ± 1.6 days. The final multiple linear regression selected manual extraction, farrowing duration, and the number of dead-born piglets as the most significant factors for the prediction of postpartum vaginal discharge duration. All of these three factors were positively associated with PVD. This study indicated that the duration of postpartum vaginal discharge can be predicted. Shortening the farrowing duration, which may reduce the NBD, lowering the rate of manual extraction can be some of the approaches to decrease the duration of postpartum vaginal discharge. Moreover, the results of this study suggested that suitable postpartum treatments such as antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs, and care should be provided to the sows with a high risk of prolonged postpartum vaginal discharge to shorten this period.

Several farrowing induction programs have been used to increase the proportion of sow farrowing during the work period and the rate of farrowing supervision, as well as to promote the success of cross-fostering and the practice of all-in all-out in swine production. The present overview aimed to evaluate the effects of farrowing induction on farrowing duration, birth interval, birth weight, dystocia/birth assistance, and stillbirth in pigs. The results showed that via different routes of administration, either natural or synthetic prostaglandins alone or in combination mostly with uterotonic drugs, including oxytocin and carbetocin, have been used for the induction of farrowing. Sometimes other drugs, such as dexamethasone, estradiol, xylazine, ergometrine, and AGN190851, were added. Vulvar and perinatal routes reduced the intramuscular dose of prostaglandins by 50% to 75%, while equal effects remained. A split dose of prostaglandin 6 h apart should be used because it may enhance complete luteolysis. Additionally, if uterotonic drugs are used following prostaglandin injection, they should be injected after the birth of the first piglets at the earliest timepoint to ensure full opening of the cervix. These two practices decrease the farrowing duration, the birth interval, and dystocia. Induction should not be conducted more than 2 days earlier than the expected farrowing date in order to keep the stillbirth rate and birth weight unaltered. This review also revealed that certain factors, such as the rate of farrowing supervision, natural differences in piglets’ birth weights, litter size, gestation length, and treatment with altrenogest before induction, may be confounding factors that possibly alter the effect of induction programs on certain farrowing characteristics.

Recombinant bubaline (Bubalus bubalis) myxovirus resistance protein 1 (bbMx1) was successfully expressed by an Escherichia coli expression system. After immunization and cell fusion, a set of ten mouse hybridomas producing mAbs to bbMx1 was established. The ten corresponding mAbs were further characterized using indirect ELISA, western blot analysis and immunocytofluorescent staining. Eight mAbs, designated 11C7, RD5, NF3, 9D1, FD4, PE6, 11A7 and 10F5, displayed binding abilities and specificity in the three formats. Moreover, combining NF3 (for capture) with RD5 (for detection), 9D1 with RD5, FD4 with 11C7 or PE6 with 11C7 generated a strong signal in a prototype sandwich-ELISA. The results suggest that the mAbs developed and characterized here provide an excellent starting point for developing diagnostic tools aimed at detecting viral infections in the water buffalo, whatever using immunoblotting, immunocytostaining or sandwich-ELISA.

Background and Aim: Previous findings regarding the effects of farrowing induction on the farrowing characteristics of sows are controversial. This study aimed to investigate the effects of farrowing induction on the following characteristics: (1) Proportion of sows that farrowed during working hours, (2) stillbirth rate, (3) number of stillbirths per farrow, (4) dystocia rate per farrow, (5) dystocia rate (the proportion of farrowings that had at least one dystocia event), (6) number of dystocia events per farrow, (6) farrowing duration, (7) birth interval, and (8) birth weight. Materials and Methods: Thirty-eight Landrace x Yorkshire sows were randomly allocated into two groups; the control group and the treatment group. In the control group (n = 18), sows farrowed spontaneously. In the treatment group (n = 20), farrowing was induced approximately 2 days earlier than the herd's average length of gestation (7:00 am on day 114) by injecting cloprostenol into the perivulval region. All sows were supervised throughout their farrowing. We recorded the interval between induction and farrowing; total number of births; number of live, stillborn, and mummified piglet births; number of dystocia events; birth interval; farrowing duration; and birth weight. A generalized linear mixed model, a linear mixed-effects model, the Chi-squared test, and Student's t-test were used to compare outcomes between the two groups. Results: Farrowing induction did not influence the percentage of sows that farrowed during working hours (7 am–5 pm), stillbirth rate, birth weight, and number of dystocia events per farrow. Farrowing induction led to an increase in birth interval, dystocia rate, dystocia per farrow (p < 0.05) and in addition to the percentage of sows that farrowed on the day following induction (60% vs. 27.8%; p < 0.05). Conclusion: Farrowing induction using a single dose of cloprostenol 2 days before the expected farrowing date can be performed with care to concentrate farrowing into a short interval. This can enhance the optimization of cross-fostering and the practice of an all-in-all-out strategy in the swine breeding industry.