Field Evaluation of the Efficacy of the Vaccine Respisure in the Control of Enzootic Pneumonia in Swine

Abstract

A study was conducted in Brazil from June to November 1999, to evaluate the efficacy of RespiSure (Pfizer Animal Health) in the control of enzootic pneumonia in a commercial swine herd. Twenty-four (24) pregnant sows were randomly allocated into two groups (T1 and T2) of 12 sows each based on expected parturition dates. Piglets from sows in T1 (131) received two IM injections of 2 mL saline solution, and piglets of T2 (133) received two doses (2 mL IM) of RespiSure on day 0 of study (between 6 to 12 days of age) and 20 days later. Piglets were weaned on day 20, and moved to grower/finisher unit on day 55 randomly assigned to 6 pens/treatment. Individual pig weights were taken on days 20, 55 and 144. Feed was weighed by pen from day 55 to 144. All pigs were slaughtered on day 145 (115 pigs in T1 and 118 in T2) and lung lesions were blindly scored during inspection at slaughter. Vaccination with RespiSure, resulted in a significant (P<0.05) lower lung lesion score (0.20% versus 2.5%), lower frequency of pigs with lung lesions (23.7% versus 57.4%), higher mean weight at slaughter (92.28 kg versus 83.96 kg), higher daily weight gain per pig (0.70 kg/day/pig versus 0.63 kg/day/pig) and better feed conversion ratio (2.527 versus 2.905) compared to control.