A step forward in the fight against swine erysipelas

For more than 60 years, Syva has been working with veterinarians and pig farmers in the fight against swine erysipelas.

Epidemiological studies show that 30-50% of apparently healthy pigs carry Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae¹ bacteria.

When uncontrolled, swine erysipelas can affect all stages of pig production, both in white and Iberian pigs, and cause a significant economic impact. The most frequent losses are due to losses due to septicaemia in the acute phase of the disease; lameness and sudden deaths due to endocarditis in the chronic phase; and deterioration of reproductive and zootechnical performance¹ in the subclinical or subacute phase.

Syva’s veterinary technical team, through the technical diagnostic service available to veterinarians and producers, know that there are up to 80% of swine erysipelas positive farms with prevalences of more than 60% of animals where Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiaecould be actively recirculating.

This pig disease is one of the 200 zoonoses recognised by the WHO as a potential public health² problem because, although infections in humans are rare, it is transmissible to people closely linked to pig production. Nowadays, for both animal welfare and human health, control strategies must be implemented against this zoonosis because it is asymptomatic or because it has common symptoms with other pathologies with which it can be confused.

It is therefore important to diagnose the presence of the bacterium early and accurately on farms, to interpret laboratory results correctly, to make biological sense of them and to apply rigorous and regular control protocols in both fattening and breeding farms.

Reinforced by animal welfare legislation, global antibiotic guidelines and the “One Health” concept, which respects human, animal and plant bio-ecosystems, there is significant pressure to reduce the use of antibiotics and to use them only rationally. Therefore, all health authorities involved in both human and animal health agree on the need to prevent the emergence and spread of the bacteria responsible for swine erysipelas by effective prevention plans through vaccination.

At Syva, we have been providing effective vaccines for the prevention and eradication of many viral and bacterial diseases affecting livestock around the world for more than 80 years.

For almost 60 years we have been working with veterinarians and pig farmers to combat swine erysipelas with our vaccines using our experience and know-how. Today Syva takes this fight one step further with a new vaccine against Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae that incorporates in its antigenic composition the SE-9 strain, selected for its optimal performance and expression of antigenic determinants and reinforcing its coverage with a specific adjuvant that promotes rapid and lasting protection.³.

References

1 Opriessnig, T., & Coutinho, T. A. (2019). Erysipelas. Diseases of Swine, 835‑843. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119350927.ch53
2 OMS. (2020, 29 de julio). Zoonosis. https://www.who.int/es/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/zoonoses
3 https://cimavet.aemps.es/cimavet/pdfs/es/ft/4002+ESP/FT_4002+ESP.pdf