The British pig health schemes: integrated systems for large‐scale pig abattoir lesion monitoring

Sánchez-Vázquez, Manuel J.; Strachan, W. D.; Armstrong, D.; Nielen, M.; Gunn, George J.

doi:10.1136/vr.d4814

Cited by 53 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…For example, the pig farmers’ advisors– such as the veterinary practitioner and the pig production consultant – should be encouraged to make use of the data from meat inspection as also suggested by Sanchez-Vazquez et al [32]. This might increase the attention on prevention of disease and injuries.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison between lesions found during meat inspection of finishing pigs raised under organic/free-range conditions and conventional, indoor conditions

2015

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It is often argued that pigs raised under less intensive production conditions – such as organic or free-range – have a higher level of animal welfare compared with conventionally raised pigs. To look into this, an analysis of data from a large Danish abattoir slaughtering organic, free-range, and conventionally raised finishing pigs was undertaken. First, the requirements for each of the three types of production systems were investigated. Next, meat inspection data from a period of 1 year were collected. These covered 201,160 organic/free-range pigs and 1,173,213 conventionally raised pigs. The prevalence of each individual type of lesion was calculated, followed by a statistical comparison between the prevalences in organic/free-range and conventional pigs. Because of the large number of data, the P-value for significance was lowered to P = 0.001, and only biological associations reflecting Odds Ratios above 1.2 or below 0.8 were considered to be of significance.The majority of the lesion types were recorded infrequently (<4%). Only chronic pleuritis was a common finding. A total of 13 lesion types were more frequent among organic/free-range pigs than among conventional pigs - among others old fractures, tail lesions and osteomyelitis. Four lesion types were equally frequent in the two groups: chronic pneumonia, chronic pleuritis, fresh fracture, and abscess in head/ear. Four lesion types were recorded less frequently among organic/free-range pigs compared with conventionally raised pigs. These included abscess in leg/toe, hernia and scar/hock lesion.Possible associations between the individual lesion types and the production systems - including the requirements for each system - are discussed. The results emphasize the importance of using direct animal based parameters when evaluating animal welfare in different types of production systems. Moreover, individual solutions to the health problems observed in a herd should be found, e.g. in collaboration with the veterinary practitioner and other advisors.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison between lesions found during meat inspection of finishing pigs raised under organic/free-range conditions and conventional, indoor conditions

2015

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“…Similarly one would expect the FarmFile and BPHS data to complement each other (clinical v. subclinical) but for both to be more variable than the FSA data, as they are from smaller but potentially more investigatory minded systems than the general abattoir inspection. BPHS is known to cover a smaller population of farms, with members representing only 75% of the commercial units [23]. Furthermore, the intermittent (voluntary and quarterly) nature of the data collection will have an effect on the variability in prevalence estimates, particularly on a monthly basis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pig Abattoir Inspection Data: Can It Be Used for Surveillance Purposes?

et al. 2016

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Statutory recording of carcass lesions at the abattoir may have significant potential as a resource for surveillance of livestock populations. Food Standards Agency (FSA) data in Great Britain are not currently used for surveillance purposes. There are concerns that the sensitivity of detection, combined with other issues, may make the outputs unreliable. In this study we postulate that FSA data could be used for surveillance purposes. To test this we compared FSA data with BPHS (a targeted surveillance system of slaughtered pigs) and laboratory diagnostic scanning surveillance (FarmFile) data, from mid-2008 to mid-2012, for respiratory conditions and tail bite lesions in pigs at population level. We also evaluated the agreement/correlation at batch level between FSA and BPHS inspections in four field trials during 2013. Temporal trends and regional differences at population level were described and compared using logistic regression models. Population temporal analysis showed an increase in respiratory disease in all datasets but with regional differences. For tail bite, the temporal trend and monthly patterns were completely different between the datasets. The field trials were run in three abattoirs and included 322 batches. Pearson’s correlation and Cohen’s kappa tests were used to assess correlation/agreement between inspections systems. It was moderate to strong for high prevalence conditions but slight for low prevalence conditions. We conclude that there is potential to use FSA data as a component of a surveillance system to monitor temporal trends and regional differences of chosen indicators at population level. At producer level and for low prevalence conditions it needs further improvement. Overall a number of issues still need to be addressed in order to provide the pig industry with the confidence to base their decisions on these FSA inspection data. Similar conclusions, at national level, may apply to other livestock sectors but require further evaluation of the inspection and data collection processes.

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“…It was decided that one-third of pigs in each batch (~47 pigs) would be assessed. This figure was chosen as: (a) it would allow the assessment of every third pig on the slaughter line (which seemed practically feasible), and (b) it was similar to the figure of 50 pigs that is used in commercial pig health assessment schemes (BPEX, 2010) and has been deemed adequate for detection of health and welfare issues postmortem (Sanchez-Vazquez et al, 2011). The required number of pigs for assessment was thus calculated to be 3313.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of scalding and dehairing of pig carcasses at abattoirs on the visibility of welfare-related lesions

Teixeira

Staaveren

Hanlon

et al. 2016

Animal

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There is increasing interest in developing abattoir-based measures to assist in determining the welfare status of pigs. The primary aim of this study was to determine the most appropriate place on the slaughter line to conduct assessments of welfare-related lesions, namely apparent aggression-related skin lesions (hereafter referred to as 'skin lesions'), loin bruising and apparent tail biting damage. The study also lent itself to an assessment of the prevalence of these lesions, and the extent to which they were linked with production variables. Finishing pigs processed at two abattoirs on the Island of Ireland ( n = 1950 in abattoir A, and n = 1939 in abattoir B) were used. Data were collected over 6 days in each abattoir in July 2014. Lesion scoring took place at two points on the slaughter line: (1) at exsanguination (slaughter stage 1 (SS1)), and (2) following scalding and dehairing of carcasses (slaughter stage 2 (SS2)). At both points, each carcass was assigned a skin and tail lesion score ranging from 0 (lesion absent) to 3 or 4 (severe lesions), respectively. Loin bruising was recorded as present or absent. Differences in the percentage of pigs with observable lesions of each type were compared between SS1 and SS2 using McNemar/McNemar-Bowker tests. The associations between each lesion type, and both cold carcass weight and condemnations, were examined at batch level using Pearson's correlations. Batch was defined as the group of animals with a particular farm identification code on a given day. The overall percentage of pigs with a visible skin lesion (i.e. score > 0) decreased between SS1 and SS2 ( P < 0.001). However, the percentage of pigs with a severe skin lesion increased numerically from SS1 to SS2. The percentage of pigs with a visible tail lesion and with loin bruising also increased between SS1 and SS2 ( P < 0.001). There was a positive correlation between the percentage of carcasses that were partially condemned, and the percentage of pigs with skin lesions, tail lesions and loin bruising ( P < 0.05). In addition, as the batch-level frequency of each lesion type increased, average cold carcass weight decreased ( P < 0.001). These findings suggest that severe skin lesions, tail lesions and loin bruising are more visible on pig carcasses after they have been scalded and dehaired, and that this is when abattoir-based lesion scoring should take place. The high prevalence of all three lesion types, and the links with economically important production parameters, suggests that more research into identifying key risk factors is warranted.Keywords: animal welfare, carcass condemnation, pigs, skin lesions, tail lesions ImplicationsAnimal welfare assessment at abattoirs has several advantages over traditional farm-based assessments. However, the extent to which routine carcass processing either masks or enhances the visibility of key welfare lesions is unclear. This research has confirmed that the visibility of loin bruising and tail lesions is improved by scalding and dehairing of carcasses. Mild app...

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The British pig health schemes: integrated systems for large‐scale pig abattoir lesion monitoring

Cited by 53 publications

References 22 publications

A comparison between lesions found during meat inspection of finishing pigs raised under organic/free-range conditions and conventional, indoor conditions

A comparison between lesions found during meat inspection of finishing pigs raised under organic/free-range conditions and conventional, indoor conditions

Pig Abattoir Inspection Data: Can It Be Used for Surveillance Purposes?

Effects of scalding and dehairing of pig carcasses at abattoirs on the visibility of welfare-related lesions

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