Porcine pleuropneumonia: the first evaluation of field efficacy of a subunit vaccine in Croatia

Abstract

A vaccine for porcine pleuropneumonia caused by Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae was studied in Croatia on a farm infected by agent serotypes 2 and 9. Vaccination with a commercial subunit vaccine was initiated in the second half of 1998 due to the immense economic damage caused on the farm by this disease. All prefattening and fattening pigs kept on the farm during the first three months of 1999 were allocated in two groups: vaccinated and control. In the control and vaccinated group, 226 and 35 animals (5.78% and 0.96% of the average number of prefattening and fattening pigs in control and vaccinated group), respectively, died from pleuropneumonia. The vaccine efficacy was 83.5%. Examination of the randomly selected lungs on the slaughter line revealed significant reduction in the lesions specific for the chronic form of pleuropneumonia in the vaccinated group (vaccine efficacy 78.6%). The tested vaccine significantly decreased the death rate and pulmonary lesions due to A. pleuropneumoniae.