Abstract No: P.
07-06
EVALUATION OF THE FIRST FIELD RESULTS OF VACCINATION AGAINST PCV2 WITH CIRCOVAC®
V Auvigne1, JB Hérin2, B Fily2, F Joisel2
1
EKIPAJ, SAINT-GRÉGOIRE, France
2
MERIAL SAS, LYON, France
Introduction
Post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS)
was first diagnosed in France in 1996. In 2000, Porcine
Circovirus type 2 (PCV2) was identified as the key PMWS
triggering factor (1). In October 2004, a provisional license
was issued to MERIAL by the French Agency for Animal
Health and Food Safety (AFSSA) for CIRCOVAC, an
inactivated PCV2 vaccine intended for the vaccination of
sows and gilts to reduce PMWS in piglets through passive
immunity. Vaccination was recommended in farms with
high mortality and presenting individual diagnosis of
PMWS according to S. Sorden’s criteria (2). The goal of
this study was to evaluate the effects of vaccination in the
field in the first vaccinated herds.
Materials and Methods
Selection of farms: Twenty-six veterinary practitioners
received temporary authorization for the use of the vaccine
until the 31st of December 2004 and were contacted for
inclusion in the study, with a total of 40 farms. To be
included in the study, the farms had to have sent to
slaughter at least three batches of pigs from vaccinated
sows, and technical data for these batches had to be
available. Using these criteria, 25 farms were excluded
because of insufficient technical data from the batches (23
cases) or a recent vaccination (2 cases). Fifteen farms were
included in the study representing a total of 4800 sows
(average 340, median 150). Sows were vaccinated twice by
IM route at 6 and 3 weeks before farrowing. The
geographical locations of the farms were representative of
the French pig farming distribution. Vaccination started
between Dec. '04 and Feb. '05.
Criteria of evaluation: The impact of the vaccination was
evaluated by comparing the results of the first three
batches of pigs born from vaccinated sows to the last three
batches born from non-vaccinated sows. Data was
processed using the EDIPORC® software evaluation.
Criteria were mortality during post-weaning and fattening
and the standard age at 115 kg.
Statistical methods: For each farm, results were analysed
using the rank sum test, with the batch considered as the
statistical unit. Changes were considered as significant if
p<0.05 and as showing a ‘tendency’ if p<0.30 (Table 1).
Overall, the mean results of the three batches ‘before
vaccination’ and ‘during vaccination’ were compared
using Wilcoxon's matched-pairs signed-ranks test.
Intercurrent factors: Some changes in farm management
or in health situation sbetween the two periods were
noticed for 6 farms: feed formula, turn to male genetic line
Piétrain (2 cases), occurrence of E. coli diarrhoea, a
episode of severe cannibalism and a change of the Porcine
Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS)
vaccination protocol of sows.
Results
In the period ‘before vaccination’, the mean mortality rate
was 4.4% during post-weaning (range 1.4-13.8), 6.6%
Proceedings of the 19th IPVS Congress, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2006 · Volume 2
during fattening (1.8-12) and the standard age at 115 kg
was 182 days (170-198). In the period ‘during
vaccination’, the mortality rates decreased to 2.6% in post-
weaning (0.7-6.5) and 5.1% in fattening (2.5-10). Overall
analysis (Table 2) showed a significant decrease (p=0.05)
of total mortality in the nursery between the periods
‘before vaccination’ and ‘during vaccination’. Mortality
during fattening was just below the limit of significance
(p=0.08).
Table 1 Classification of the changes (in no. of farms)
Mortality Age at
Post-Wean. Fattening 115 kg
Significant improvement 5 2 1
Tendency to improvement 2 4 2
Stable 5 8 2
Tendency to deterioration 1 0 2
Significant deterioration 1 1 1
Missing data 1 0 7
Table 2 Differences between batches from vaccinated and
non-vaccinated sows
n mean Med. best worst p
PW mortality (%) 14 -1.8 -1.2 -8.4 +2.9 0.04
Fatt. mortality(%) 15 -1.5 -0.5 -8.5 +1.8 0.08
Age at 115 kg (j) 8 -0.5 -1.0 -7.7 +5.6 0.84
Discussion
The first preliminary results of the vaccination with
CIRCOVAC in the field show a significant impact on non-
qualified total mortality. It should be noted that the farms
were only partially vaccinated and that sows only received
two injections. However, it has been previously shown that
the antibody titre in the sows, and therefore the colostral
immunity, increases with the number of injections (3).
Clinical information supplied by the veterinarians showed
that the reduction in mortality was linked to a decrease in
PMWS symptoms, even if it was not possible to
substantiate this in the absence of systematic information
on the causes of death. The study was carried out over a
short period (six successive batches) in order to limit the
impact of possible intercurrent events that would
complicate the interpretation. It would, however, be
interesting to carry out multicentric studies including
growth data over a longer period of time.
CIRCOVAC® is a registered trademark of Merial and
EDIPORC is a registered trademark of EDIVIAL, France
References
1. Kennedy S. et al., (2000), J Comp Path, 122, 9-24
2. Sorden S., (2000), Swine Health Prod 8, 133-136
3. Charreyre C. et al., (2006), 19th IPVS, Copenhagen,
Denmark (submitted)
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