The European Commission has requested EFSA to assess animal diseases according to the criteria as laid down in Articles 5, 7, 8 and Annex IV for the purpose of categorisation of diseases in accordance with Article 9 of the Regulation (EU) No 2016/429 (Animal Health Law). This scientific opinion addresses the ad hoc method developed for assessing any animal disease for the listing and categorisation of diseases within the Animal Health Law (AHL) framework. The assessment of individual diseases is addressed in distinct scientific opinions that are published separately. The assessment of Articles 5, 8 and 9 criteria is performed on the basis of the information collected according to Article 7 criteria. For that purpose, Article 7 criteria were structured into parameters and the information was collected at parameter level. The resulting fact sheets on the profile and impact of each disease were compiled by disease scientists. A mapping was developed to identify which parameters from Article 7 were needed to inform each Article 5, 8 and 9 criterion. Specifically, for Articles 5 and 9 criteria, a categorical assessment was performed, by applying an expert judgement procedure, based on the mapped information. The judgement was performed by EFSA Panel experts on Animal Health and Welfare in two rounds, individual and collective judgement. The output of the expert judgement on the criteria of Articles 5 and 9 for each disease is composed by the categorical answer, and for the questions where no consensus was reached, the different supporting views are reported.

Many piglets are exposed to potentially painful husbandry procedures within the first week of life, including tail docking and castration, without the provision of either anesthesia or analgesia. The assessment methods used to evaluate pain experienced by piglets are often affected by low specificity and practical limitations, prompting the investigation of alternative methodologies. The assessment of changes in facial expression following a painful event has been successfully applied to several species. The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the utility of a Grimace Scale applied to neonatal pigs to evaluate pain evoked by tail docking and castration. Eight female piglets, Sus scrofa domesticus (Landrace/Large White X synthetic sire line) underwent tail docking and 15 male piglets (75% Large White and 25% Belgian Landrace) were exposed to the castration procedure. Clear images of the faces of the piglets were collected immediately pre- and post-procedure. The images were used by experienced observers to identify facial action units (FAUs) which changed in individuals over this period, and a scoring scale was depicted in a training manual. A set of randomly selected images were then combined in a scorebook, which was evaluated after training by 30 scorers, blind to the treatment. The scale for most FAU was used with a high level of consistency across all observers. Tail docking induced a significant change (P < 0.05) in free moving piglets only in the “orbital tightening” FAU, whereas no change in any unit was observed in castrated piglets, which were restrained at the time of assessment. In this initial stage of development, orbital tightening seems to have the potential to be applied to investigate painful conditions in neonatal pigs. Nonetheless, more studies are needed to assess its full effectiveness and to evaluate the influence of possible confounds (e.g., handling stress) on the observed changes in FAUs.

The European Commission requested EFSA to compare the reliability of wild boar density estimates across the EU and to provide guidance to improve data collection methods. Currently, the only EU‐wide available data are hunting data. Their collection methods should be harmonised to be comparable and to improve predictive models for wild boar density. These models could be validated by more precise density data, collected at local level e.g. by camera trapping. Based on practical and theoretical considerations, it is currently not possible to establish wild boar density thresholds that do not allow sustaining African swine fever (ASF). There are many drivers determining if ASF can be sustained or not, including heterogeneous population structures and human‐mediated spread and there are still unknowns on the importance of different transmission modes in the epidemiology. Based on extensive literature reviews and observations from affected Member States, the efficacy of different wild boar population reduction and separation methods is evaluated. Different wild boar management strategies at different stages of the epidemic are suggested. Preventive measures to reduce and stabilise wild boar density, before ASF introduction, will be beneficial both in reducing the probability of exposure of the population to ASF and the efforts needed for potential emergency actions (i.e. less carcass removal) if an ASF incursion were to occur. Passive surveillance is the most effective and efficient method of surveillance for early detection of ASF in free areas. Following focal ASF introduction, the wild boar populations should be kept undisturbed for a short period (e.g. hunting ban on all species, leave crops unharvested to provide food and shelter within the affected area) and drastic reduction of the wild boar population may be performed only ahead of the ASF advance front, in the free populations. Following the decline in the epidemic, as demonstrated through passive surveillance, active population management should be reconsidered.

Pain alleviation associated with castration of piglets is an important welfare issue. The present study compares the effect of different approaches and products suitable for farmer use, with the aim to alleviate pain due to castration in piglets. A randomized within-litter design, with 28 replicate litters, compared 7 treatments: handling () restraint of the piglet and manipulation of the scrotum, castration without pain relief (), 2 treatments (, ) with different concentrations of tetracaine (2 and 6%) applied topically 10 min before and immediately post-surgery, and 3 treatments with i.m. injection of different nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs () 10 min prior to surgery (-meloxicam, -ketoprofen, -tolfenamic acid). Efficacy of pain relief was assessed during a 300 min period after castration by serum cortisol, behavior (walking, lying, suckling, in the nest, isolated and pain related: tremors, rubbing the rear, hunching, wagging of the tail), facial expression and scrotal skin pressure sensitivity. C pigs had greater serum cortisol concentration than all other groups at 60 min post-surgery ( < 0.001), while H pigs had lower concentrations than pigs given topical anesthesia ( < 0.001) though not injected analgesia. No treatment differences were significant at 180 min, but at 300 min cortisol concentration was greater in T2 and T6 piglets than those given NSAIDs ( = 0.03). These treatment differences were mirrored by the pressure sensitivity of the scrotum; in comparison with C piglets, those given NSAIDs showed a reduced sensitivity ( 0.003) but those given local anesthesia did not ( = 0.15). C pigs showed increased frequency of pain-related behavior in the first 30 min in comparison with all other treatments, more time isolated than H or NSAID treatments, and more time standing inactive than H or K treatments. No behavioral differences were apparent after 60 min. No differences in facial expressions were observed among treatments. In conclusion, on-farm methods for pain relief can provide some, though not complete, pain alleviation in the hours after castration. The use of topical anesthesia gave only minor benefit in comparison to NSAID agents injected prior to castration. Since the main differences in indicators of pain between positive and negative controls were observed within the first h after castration, it is important to select drugs that act quickly after administration to facilitate practical processing schedules on farm.

Posture detection targeted towards providing assessments for the monitoring of health and welfare of pigs has been of great interest to researchers from different disciplines. Existing studies applying machine vision techniques are mostly based on methods using three-dimensional imaging systems, or two-dimensional systems with the limitation of monitoring under controlled conditions. Thus, the main goal of this study was to determine whether a two-dimensional imaging system, along with deep learning approaches, could be utilized to detect the standing and lying (belly and side) postures of pigs under commercial farm conditions. Three deep learning-based detector methods, including faster regions with convolutional neural network features (Faster R-CNN), single shot multibox detector (SSD) and region-based fully convolutional network (R-FCN), combined with Inception V2, Residual Network (ResNet) and Inception ResNet V2 feature extractions of RGB images were proposed. Data from different commercial farms were used for training and validation of the proposed models. The experimental results demonstrated that the R-FCN ResNet101 method was able to detect lying and standing postures with higher average precision (AP) of 0.93, 0.95 and 0.92 for standing, lying on side and lying on belly postures, respectively and mean average precision (mAP) of more than 0.93.

This document provides methodological guidance developed by the EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Welfare to produce Scientific Opinions in response to mandates received from the European Commission in the context of the Farm to Fork Strategy. The mandates relate to the welfare of (i) animals during transport, (ii) calves, (iii) laying hens, (iv) broilers, (v) pigs, (vi) ducks, geese and quails, and (vii) dairy cows. This guidance was developed in order to define the methods and strategy to be applied for responding to the Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the mandates. The mandates each consist of a set of General ToRs which refer to the husbandry systems used in the production of each animal species or the current transport practices for free moving animals and animals transported in cages, and a set of specific ToRs for which difficulties in ensuring animal welfare have been identified and where specific scenarios are envisaged. Part I of the guidance includes a description of welfare consequences for the animals. Part II includes a new methodology for providing quantitative recommendations regarding animal welfare. The proposed methodology follows the assumption that the effect of an exposure variable (e.g. space allowance) on animal welfare can be quantified by comparing the expression of an animal-based measure (ABM) under 'unexposed conditions' (e.g. unlimited space) and under high exposure (e.g. restrictive conditions). The level of welfare as assessed through this ABM can be quantified for different levels of the exposure variable (e.g. at increasing space allowances) and quantitative recommendations can thus be provided. The final version of the methodological guidance was endorsed for public consultation, which took place between 14 February 2022 and 31 March 2022. The comments received are integrated in this document.

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Performance of pigs from birth to slaughter is a result of a complex interaction of factors, with the early stages of a pig's life likely to affect lifetime performance. During the preweaning stage, piglets are reliant on the sow for nutrition, and sibling competition is likely to affect growth, in particular for low birth weight (LBiW) piglets. The objective of the experiment was to determine the effect of litter composition (littermate weight) and milk supplementation during lactation on the performance of LBiW pigs to weaning and the long-term consequences of treatment to slaughter. The experiment was a 2 × 2 factorial with littermate weight (normal or LBiW) and provision of supplementary milk from d 1 to 28 (yes or no) as factors. A total of 265 piglets were selected within 24 h of birth and cross-fostered to create 2 litter types (LOW = LBiW pigs [≤ 1.25 kg] only and MX = both LBiW and normal birth weight pigs [1.6 to 2.0 kg]); half of the litters within a type were supplemented with milk and the other half were not. The behavior of litters given milk was recorded to identify milk consumption patterns. Piglets were weaned at d 28 and kept in their litters until d 70 and then subsequently housed in mixed groups until slaughter. No difference was observed at any stage in the ADG of pigs given access to supplementary milk or not (P > 0.05) nor was there any significant interaction between milk provision and litter composition (P > 0.05). However, LOW litters drank significantly more supplementary milk than MX litters (P < 0.001). There was a significant effect of litter type on ADG from d 14 to 28, with LBiW pigs in LOW litters performing better than those in MX litters (0.252 versus 0.217 kg/d; P < 0.05). At weaning, LBiW piglets in LOW litters weighed over 500 g more than those in MX litters (P < 0.05). In MX litters there was a significant interaction between birth weight and supplementary milk on the CV of BW from d 14 to slaughter (P < 0.05). In conclusion, grouping LBiW piglets with similar sized littermates preweaning can improve preweaning performance by reducing competition from heavier littermates; however, this advantage does not persist after weaning. Although supplementary milk does not improve LBiW pig performance before or after weaning, it affects their drinking behavior and can reduce the variation in the BW of LBiW piglets in mixed litters to slaughter.