Does the early life environment and piglets health effect hair cortisol, dehdyroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and the cortisol:DHEA ratio?

This study investigated if early life management practices influence the stress of pigs and whether this is detectable by measuring cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and the cortisol:DHEA ratio in swine hair. There was no effect of early life management on hair hormones. Piglets with pre-weaning lameness exhibited a 58% higher cortisol:DHEA ratio, suggesting this may be a potential biomarker of lameness induced stress.

Presenter : Darian Pollock, darian.pollock@usask.ca

Principal supervisor : Yolande Seddon, yolande.seddon@usask.ca

Authors, co-authors : Darian Pollock1, David Janz1, Yolande Seddon1

1 NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Swine Welfare
Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Canada

In French only.

Caractérisation des gènes de résistance aux antibiotiques et des bactéries émis par les élevages porcins à travers les bioaérosols au Québec

Les bioaérosols des élevages porcins peuvent transporter des bactéries et gènes d’antibiorésistance (GAs). Ceux-ci ont donc été échantillonnés sur huit fermes au Québec. Les concentrations de bactéries étaient similaires entre l’intérieur des bâtiments et la sortie des ventilateurs. Les Clostridiaceae, Peptostreptococaceae et GRAs étaient majoritaires, suggérant une contribution de ces élevages à l’émission de bactéries et GRAs dans l’environnement.

Présentateur : Asmaâ Khalloufi

Superviseur : Marie-Lou Gaucher, marie-lou.gaucher@umontreal.ca

Auteurs, coauteurs : A. Khalloufi1,3, A. Thibodeau1,2,3, William P. Thériault1,3, Joanie Lemieux4, Magali-Wen St-Germain4, , Marc Veillette5, Valérie Létourneau5, Nathalie Turgeon5 , C. Duchaine4,5, M.L. Gaucher1,2,3

(1) CRSV- UdeM
(2) GREMIP-UdeM
(3) CRIPA-UdeM
(4) FSG-ULaval
(5) IUCPQ-ULaval

In French only.

Caractérisation de l’efficacité d’un nouveau probiotique à inhiber Salmonella chez le porc dans un modèle de bioréacteur simulant le contenu intestinal du porc

Salmonella fait partie du microbiote digestif du porc et pourrait se retrouver dans ses produits de viande, causant des gastro-entérites chez le consommateur. Un probiotique testé dans un bioréacteur, mimant les conditions du colon du porc, a montré son efficacité dans l’inhibition du Salmonella dans cet environnement tout en modulant le microbiote intestinal du porc.

Présentateur : Amély Grandmont, amely.grandmont@umontreal.ca

Superviseur : Alexandre Thibodeau, alexandre.thibodeau@umontreal.ca

Auteurs, coauteurs : Amély Grandmont1,2,3, Mohamed Rhouma1,2,3, Marie-Pierre Létourneau-Montminy3,4, William Thériault1,2,3, Isabelle Mainville5, Yves Arcand5, Alexandre Thibodeau1,2,3

1. Chaire de Recherche en Salubrité des Viandes 2. Groupe de Recherche et d’Enseignement en Salubrité Alimentaire 3. Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie Porcine et Avicole 4.Chaire de recherche sur les stratégies alternatives d’alimentation des porcs et des volailles 5. Agriculture Agroalimentaire Canada (St-Hyacinthe)

 

Hair hormones as biomarkers of welfare in swine

Research suggests that the hormones cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) relate to stress and physical and mental wellbeing respectively and thus may serve as biomarkers of welfare in swine. The goal of this research is to determine if evaluating the circadian rhythms of these hormones as well as their concentrations within hair could serve as biomarkers of long-term welfare in swine

Presenter : Darian Pollock, 52 Campus drive, darian.pollock@usask.ca

Supervisor : Yolande Seddon, 52 Campus drive, yolande.seddon@usask.ca

Authors, co-authors 1Darian Pollock, 2Dave Janz, 1Yolande Seddon

1Large animal clinical sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan

2Veterinary biomedical sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan

Promotion of positive welfare through play behaviour in grow-finish pigs

Exploring the possibility to promote play in grow-finish pigs to use it as a tool to promote positive welfare in intensive commercial systems as well as an indicator of good welfare on farms and identify whether play has positive effects on stress reduction and the emotional state of pigs.

Presenter : Karolína Steinerová, karolina.steinerova@usask.ca,
University of Saskatchewan
Large Animal Clinical Sciences
Western College of Veterinary Medicine
52 Campus Drive, Room 2552
Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5B4

Supervisor : Yolande Seddon, yolande.seddon@usask.ca,
University of Saskatchewan
Large Animal Clinical Sciences
Western College of Veterinary Medicine
52 Campus Drive, Room 2505
Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5B4

Authors, co-authors : Karolína Steinerová1, Jennifer A. Brown2, Sarah E. Parker1, Yolande M. Seddon1 1Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan; 2Prairie Swine Centre Inc., Saskatoon, Canada; University of Saskatchewan

More than meets the eye: Using pig carcasses to assess on-farm animal welfare

The evaluation of animal welfare indicators on swine carcasses could offer a cost-effective method for the routine evaluation of swine welfare for farms supplying pigs to abattoirs. This project evaluates whether measuring animal-based indicators of welfare on swine carcasses can accurately inform about the welfare of swine on-farm and during pre-slaughter handling, and the relationship between welfare indicators, and economic loss.

Presenter : Giuliana G. Miguel-Pacheco, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A2,  Giuliana.miguel@usask.ca

Supervisor : Yolande Seddon, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A2,  Yolande.seddon@usask.ca

Authors : Giuliana G Miguel-Pacheco1, Yuanyue Wang1, Yolande M Seddon1

1Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A2.

Tenofovir, a candidate drug against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus [PRRSv]

PRRSv is infamously known for its impact on the worlds’ porcine industry. Since no efficient treatment is commercially available, this study evaluates the antiviral potential of four drugs derives from compounds which we have shown to inhibit PRRSv. Interestingly, two of these drugs, developed to treat HIV, have shown a significative decrease in viral replication in vitro.

Presenter : Marie-Jeanne Pesant, Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, marie-jeanne.pesant@umontreal.ca

Supervisor : Carl A Gagnon, 3200 rue Sicotte (bureau 3963), carl.a.gagnon@umontreal.ca

Authors, co-authors : Pesant, Marie-Jeanne1,3, Provost, Chantale2, Salmin, Abdulrahman Fuad, M. Jacques3, F. Beaudry1, C.A. Gagnon1,2,3

1Swine and Poultry Infectious Diseases Research Center [CRIPA-FRQ], Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada, 2Molecular diagnostic laboratory, Centre de diagnostic vétérinaire de l’Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada, 3Research Group on Infectious Diseases in Animal Production [GREMIP], Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada

Association between pig fecal microbiota, performance, and host genotype

English presentation. Pig microbiota, performance and genotype of eight cohorts from Ontario and Quebec were analyzed. Two enterotypes were identified when pigs were 11 days old that were associated with distinct microbiota composition. Pigs in one enterotype had better performance during pre-weaning and growing production stages. A 2-Mb span on Chromosome 13 contains twelve SNVs associated with these enterotypes.

Presenter : Maddison Arsenault, marsen04@uoguelph.ca 

Supervisor : Dr. Vahab Farzan; Department of Population Medicine and Department of Pathobiology, University of Guelph, ON; afarzan@uoguelph.ca & Dr. Brandon Lillie; Department of Pathobiology, blillie@uoguelph.ca 

Authors : Maddison Arsenault1, Vahab Farzan1,2, Khurram Nadeem3, Ehsan Khafipour4, Brandon Lillie1

1 Department of Pathobiology ; 2 Department of Population Medicine; 3 Department of Mathematics & Statistics, 4, University of Guelph;

4 Diamond V, Cargill Health Technologies

Risk factors for weaned piglet mortality during transport

This poster descriptively explores and identifies risk factors for increased mortality during weaned piglet transport events using records from over 6,000 trips provided by 5 Canadian production companies. The average percent of shipped piglets found dead on arrival for all trips was <0.03%. Mortality rates by trailer type, trip duration, exterior environment, and other variables are presented.

Presenter : Hannah Golightly, hgolight@uoguelph.ca

Supervisor : Dr. Jennifer Brown, Prairie Swine Centre, PO Box 21057, 2105 8th Street East, Saskatoon SK, S7H 5N9, jab651@mail.usask.ca

Authors and affiliation : Hannah R. Golightly1, Terri L. O’Sullivan1, Jennifer Brown2, Yolande M. Seddon3

  1. Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph
  2. Prairie Swine Centre, Saskatoon, SK
  3. Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Saskatchewan

Understanding and comparing the immune response and clinical protection provided against streptococcus suis by monovalent or polyvalent autogenous bacterin vaccines

“Autogenous bacterin” vaccines offer an attractive solution to prevent the clinical cases caused by Streptococcus suis in pigs. We evaluated whether a polyvalent vaccine (containing several serotypes of S. suis) has the same efficacy as a monovalent formulation against a given serotype, and if the antibodies induced by these vaccines had cross-reactions between the serotypes.

Presenter: Dominic Dolbec, Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, dominic.dolbec@umontreal.ca

Supervisor : Mariela Segura, mariela.segura@umontreal.ca

Authors, co-authorsDominic Dolbec1, Sandrine Trudeau1, Annie Gaudreau1, Mélanie Lehoux1, Marcelo Gottschalk1 et Mariela Segura1

1) Research Group on infectious diseases in production animals (GREMIP), Swine and poultry infectious diseases research center (CRIPA), University of Montreal

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