Reproductive failure in sows is one of the most important factors affecting pig breeding. Many reproductive disorders are linked to both environmental factors and infectious agents. The goal of our study was to determine the presence of pathogens that are known to cause abortion, considering a set of conditioning factors, such as seasonality and pregnancy period. A large number of aborted fetuses (1,625 fetuses from 140 farms) from a high-density breeding area in northern Italy was analyzed for a period of 3 years. The pigs were diagnosed based on direct (culture, PCR) or indirect (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) evidence. An infectious etiologic agent was found in 323 of 549 cases of abortion (58.8%). These included viral agents (Porcine circovirus-2, 138/323; Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, 108/323; porcine parvovirus, 20/323; pseudorabies virus, 6/323; and Encephalomyocarditis virus, 3/323) and bacteria (Escherichia coli, 64/323; Streptococcus sp., 63/323; Staphylococcus sp., 5/323; Pasteurella sp., 3/323; Shigella sp., 1/323; and Yersinia sp., 1/323). This study describes the prevalence of infectious agents involved in reproductive failure in a high-density swine population. The data can be useful to swine breeders, practitioners, and medical specialists in monitoring animal health and in supervising the breeding process.

We assessed the causes of polyserositis in pigs, categorized by causative agents and ages of animals affected. In a 3-y study, 246 pigs from 80 different farms with recurrent problems of polyserositis, in a high-density breeding area, were submitted for autopsy; 154 pigs with typical fibrinous serosal lesions were sampled for further bacterial and viral investigation. The most common gross lesions were pleuritis and pericarditis (141 of 154; 92%). The animals most affected were weaned pigs (139 of 154; 90%). Haemophilus parasuis and Mycoplasma hyorhinis were the most common bacteria detected and were present at the same rate (85 of 154; 55%). Other bacteria isolated were Streptococcus sp. (44 of 154; 29%), Pasteurella multocida (21 of 154; 14%), Escherichia coli (19 of 154; 12%), Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (7 of 154; 5%), and Trueperella pyogenes (4 of 154; 3%). Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV; 119 of 154; 77%) predominated among the viruses detected, followed, with lesser prevalence, by porcine circovirus 2 (40 of 154; 26%) and swine influenza A virus (19 of 154; 12%). Bacterial coinfection and coinfection of bacteria and viruses were common (128 of 154; 83%). A strong positive correlation was found between coinfection by H. parasuis and M. hyorhinis and also by H. parasuis with PRRSV.

Data on the prevalence of major contagious pathogens in bulk tank milk (BTM) in Italy are generally not available. The availability of Real-Time PCR procedures (qPCR) to perform BTM analysis by represents an important step to define herd health status. Therefore, a cross-sectional epidemiological study was designed to assess the prevalence of contagious pathogens and Prototheca spp in BTM samples. The study was performed on 581 herds from four districts in the west Lombardy region of Italy. Additionally, the relationship between pathogens in BTM and SCC or milk yield; the presence of an association between four risk factors (district, herd size, average milk yield and SCC) with pathogens in BTM were assessed. The overall data showed that S. aureus was recovered in 42% of the herds, Str. agalactiae in 10%, Prototheca spp in 11% and M. bovis in 1.5% of the herds. The GLM model applied showed a significant influence of BTM results, district, herd size and their interactions on SCC and on milk yield variance. Particularly, S. aureus or Str. agalactiae have a significant effect on milk yield variability and, in a lesser extent, on SCC. The very high prevalence of contagious pathogens significantly affects milk characteristics and yield, thus affecting economic sustainability of the herds, and suggests the need to implement control programmes to decrease the prevalence of contagious pathogens, This will also allow to decrease the use of antimicrobials and to improve cow welfare.

Introduction: The zoonotic hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotype 3 (HEV-G3) has become a common cause of acute and chronic hepatitis among humans worldwide. In Israel, while HEV-3 sequences have previously been detected in sewage, only the non-zoonotic HEV-G1 genotype has been found in samples from human patients. Aim: In this pilot study, we aimed to assess the status of HEV in a sample of the swine population and among swine farm workers in Israel. Methods: Pig blood (n = 141) and faecal samples (n = 39), pig farm sewage samples (n = 8) and blood from farm workers (n = 24) were collected between February 2016 and October 2017. Anti-HEV IgG was detected using the Wantai assay. HEV RNA was analysed with the RealStar HEV kit. HEV open reading frame 1 fragments amplified from representative HEV RNA-positive samples were used for phylogenetic analysis. Results: Overall prevalence of HEV antibodies in pigs was 75.9% (107/141). HEV RNA was detected in plasma (2.1%, 3/141), faecal (22.8%, 18/79) and pig sewage (4/8) samples. Pig and sewage-derived viral sequences clustered with previously identified human sewage HEV-G3 sequences. Most pig farms workers (23 of 24) were HEV-seropositive; none was viraemic or reported previous clinical signs. Conclusions: This study showed that domestic pigs in Israel are infected with HEV-G3. The high HEV seropositivity of the farm workers together with the previous identification of this virus in human sewage suggests circulation to humans. The clinical impact of these findings on public health should be further explored.