3rd Merial Forum

April 13th to 15th 2011 Malta

Henry Too

Merial Asia Pte Ltd

Pig Production in Asia and Pig Production in Asia and Experiences with CircovacExperiences with Circovac®®

IntroductionName: Henry Too

Veterinarian, BVSc (University of Melbourne), MVSc (University of Sydney)

Joined Merial end 2001

Last held position prior to joining Merial: associate professor in Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Malaysia

Current position: Technical Services (Swine) in Asia Cluster Region

Pig Production in Asia

• Farms are either:– Small holder operations i.e. backyard– Commercial pig farms

Pig Production in Asia

Domesticated wild boars

Pig Production in Asia

Village pigs

Management Systems

• Commercial farms:– Single site farrow-to-finish operations– Few true all-in, all-out systems– Multisite operations are usually either 2

or 3 sites

SucklersSucklers

WeanersWeanersGrowers/FinishersGrowers/Finishers

Majority are farrow-to-finish herds, all stages in one farm

GestationGestation

BreedingBreeding

Pigs in commercial piggeries are housed indoors.

Farm housing in tropical Asia is usually open-sided. Some trends towards closed housing system.

Pigs in commercial piggeries are housed indoors.

Farm housing is usually open-sided. Sows are usually kept in individual stalls.

Mating is usually by artificial insemination. In most cases, this is due to labour constraints rather than a desire for better reproductive efficiency.

Mating is usually by artificial insemination although in some of the smaller farms, natural mating is still the norm.

Supervised mating in East Malaysia

Quality of farrowing house facilities and management is highly variable.

Quality of farrowing house facilities and management is highly variable.

Quality of farrowing house facilities and management is highly variable.

Closed housing system is common in Korea. Nursery house in Korea.

Closed housing system is common in Korea. Nursery house in Korea.

Swine demographics in Asia cluster region: sow population (in 000)

ENTITY 2007 2008 2009 2010 CAGR ’07-‘10

TOTAL POPULATION

KOR 1,004 913 896 875 -4%

PHL 2,291 2,333 2,393 2,454 2%

TWN 722 690 684 676 -2%

THL 1,148 1,330 988 988 -5%

CWD 9,204 9,073 7,920 8,518 -3%

COMMERCIAL POPULATION

KOR 1,004 913 816 875 -4%

PHL 615 626 642 658 2%

TWN 650 621 615 608 -2%

THL 1,148 1,330 988 988 -5%

CWD 1,104 1,101 1,052 1,134 1%

Swine demographics in Asia cluster region: Commercial versus backyard

sow population (in 000)

4,52

19,

848

4,59

19,

748

4,19

38,

688

4,26

39,

248

-2,0004,0006,0008,000

10,00012,00014,00016,000

2007 2008 2009 2010

Commercial Backyard

Economically important emergent and endemic pig diseases in Asia

• PRRS and highly virulent PRRS• Foot and mouth disease• Porcine epidemic diarrhoea (PED)• Porcine circovirus type 2 diseases (PCVD)• Classical swine fever• Aujeszky’s disease (pseudorabies)• Glasser’s disease (Haemophilus parasuis)• Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae• Porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC)• Mycoplasmal pneumonia

Porcine reproductive and Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS)respiratory syndrome (PRRS)

• Endemic in all major pig rearing areas in Asia

• Most sows in commercial herds are serologically positive

• However, the disease in some herds are actually inactive and stable although seroprevalence in sows may be high due to past history of infection (or vaccination).

Porcine reproductive and Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS)respiratory syndrome (PRRS)

• Of late, PRRS became a disease of greater concern in China, Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.

• Outbreaks of “blue ear disease” or highly virulent (atypical) PRRS – previously known as swine high fever pig disease

• Started in Jangxi province in China. Spread rapidly throughout China

• Spread to Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos Cambodia and lately, Thailand

• Started in small and backyard piggeries in 2006

• Spread to many regions in China

• Serious economic losses

• However, very little information about the disease

• Also called Blue-eared disease

• killed over 80,000 pigs, led to the culling of 235,000 others and set pork prices rocketing.

• Pork price went up 85%

Swine High Fever DiseaseSwine High Fever Disease

Mystery Pig Disease in China in 2006

Conclusions• Chinese scientists believe that the aetiology of this

disease is a highly virulent PRRSV.

• Results (Jian et al., 2008) unambiguously fulfill Koch’s postulates and define highly pathogenic PRRSV as the aetiological agent of PHFS in China

• Inability to reproduce mortality with isolates (Vietnam, USDA) but ability to reproduce mortality with tissue homogenates (USDA study) may suggest that there might be another pathogen (?) involved.

• Some unanswered questions

• Potential danger of spread to other Asian countries.

Outbreak of “blue ear disease” in Vietnam

Outbreak of “blue ear disease” in Vietnam

Outbreak of “blue ear disease” in Vietnam

Postscript

• October 24, 2009 - China's agriculture ministry has announced that an epidemic of swine disease that killed more than 80,000 pigs in 2007 has emerged in parts of the country.

• Until October 20, just under 3,300 pigs had died from the disease and 7,724 had been culled.

• In April 2010, outbreaks of so-called blue ear disease have been reported in several areas in Vietnam.

• In November 2010, a sudden increase in morbidity and mortality due to PRRS in Thailand – mainly in backyard piggeries in Phitsanulok province.

Circovac® Registration

CountryRegistration Date(Sow claim only)

Actual Launch

Thailand 14 Sep 2007 Feb-2008

Malaysia 07 Dec 2007 Dec -2007

Philippines 10 Sep 2008 Oct-2008

Vietnam 22 Sep 2007 Nov-2008

South Korea 09 Feb 2009 May-2009

Indonesia 21 Sep 2010 Nov-2010

Cambodia 28 Apr 2010

Taiwan 2nd Qtr 2012

Piglet vaccination trial in Malaysia

• Farrow to finish farm• 250 sow herd• 12 litters of piglets. Half of each litter

was vaccinated at 3 weeks of age with 0.5 ml Circovac®

• Piglets weaned at 4 weeks of age• Surviving piglets recorded at 3, 4, 7

and 17 weeks of age

Piglet vaccination trial in Malaysia: Post-weaning mortality

05

1015202530

% post-weaning mortality

FarmA

FarmB

vacc

control

Farm A and B = piglet vaccination at 3 weeks of age

Piglet vaccination trial in Malaysia: grower mortality

02468

101214

% grower mortality

FarmA

FarmB

vacc

control

Farm A and B = vaccination at 3 weeks of age

Piglet vaccination trial in Malaysia

• Conclusion– Significant decrease of mortality in both

age groups…– Residual mortality probably due to

diseases other than PCVD

Piglet vaccination in Thailand

• P. Poolperm et al. (2009) 4th APVS, Tsukuba, Japan

• M&M– 11 barns without vaccination– 4 barns with CIRCOVAC vaccination,

0.5ml, IM, 3 weeks of age– Fattening losses (death and culled)– PCV2 RT-PCR at 15-16 weeks of age

Piglet vaccination in Thailand

4,08

10,591,24

2,36

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

NV V3w

% death% culled

• Results– Losses during the fattening period

(p<0.05)11x1200 pigs

4x1200 pigs

Piglet vaccination in Thailand

Table 1 PCV2 load confirmed in NV and V3w (15-16 week-old). Data are represented as mean log10 (PCV2 copies/ml) ± SD

Group NV (n=4) V3w (n=5)

Mean ±SD 7.34 ± 0.81 0.00 ± 0.00

NV = non vaccinated

V3w = vaccinated at 3 weeks

PCV2 RT-PCR at 15-16 weeks of age

Efficacy of CIRCOVAC® (Merial) in piglets under Japanese field conditions

E.Ono¹, M.Sugiyama¹, H.Koimaru¹, G.Kinoshita¹, N.Nakanishi², M.Pasini³. and F Joisel³

1.Merial Japan Limited, Tokyo, Japan2.Kyoto Animal Science Center, Kyoto, Japan3.Merial S.A.S., Lyon, France

Proceedings of the 5th Asian Pig Veterinary Society Congress. 7-9 March 2011, Pattaya, Thailand. P072

Material and methods

• Good Clinical Practices conditions (GCP)• Blinded, randomized & controlled trial• 3 farrow-to-finish farms• 2 experimental groups of 350 pigs each

– Vaccinated (VG): CIRCOVAC 0.5ml, IM once at weaning (3 weeks of age)

– Non-vaccinated (NVG): left as controls• Dead pigs

– Recorded– Submitted to a full necropsy– Pathology + Immuno-histochemistry

Material and methods (cont’d)

• Weighing at weaning and 18 weeks of age• Under grown pigs = pigs weighing less

than 75% of the average weight of the group

• 60 pigs blood sampled at 3, 12 and 18 weeks of age for PCV2 PCR test in:– Serum– Feces

Material and methods (cont’d)

• Chi² test applied for:– Mortality– Under grown pigs– PCR detection

• Student t-test applied for:– Average daily weight gain – Age at slaughter

• Wilcoxon’s test applied for: – Antibody titres

Results

• Safety in the target species– No general reaction in the vaccinated

pigs– No local reactions to the vaccine

Results

• Mortality rates– p<0.05

• PCVD– p<0.05

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

NVG VG

Total mortality

Suspected ofPCVD

Diagnosed asPCVD

Results

• Average daily weight gain in g/day (3 to 18 weeks of age)– p<0.05

• Age at slaughter (days)

• NVG: 201±24• VG: 176± 13

– p<0.05

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

NVG

VG

160

165

170

175

180

185

190

195

200

205

NVG

VG

Results

• Undergrown pigs (%)– p<0.05

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

NVG

NVG

VG

Results

PCV2 antigen in serum

PCV2 antigen in feces

age 3w 12w 18w 3w 12w 18w

VG 3/60 7/60 3/60* 0/60 7/60 0/60

NVG 1/60 14/60 13/60* 0/60 12/52 2/49

Viraemia and fecal shedding results

- *p<0.05

Conclusion

• Safety in the target species has been confirmed

• In this GCP trial, CIRCOVAC has been shown to significantly:– Dramatically reduce mortality and PCVD-specific

mortality (- 30%)– Improve growth (+ 232g/day), homogeneity and

reduce undergrown pigs (-61.9%)– Reduce time to slaughter (-25days)– Increase the number of pigs delivered to

slaughter (+30%)– Reduce viraemia in the vaccinated pigs at 18

weeks of age

General conclusions

• Market share of Circovac® in Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines ranges from 40 to 70%

• Except in South Korea, Circovac® is recommended in both sows and piglets either as registered claims or as off-label

General conclusions

NEW POSITIONING “CIRCOVAC, the only proven “Whole HERD PCV2” vaccine, flexible for use in controlling PCV2 infections through sows or piglet application. With CIRCOVAC, devastating effects in piglets are controlled while retaining the reproductive benefits in sows, which no other PCV2 vaccine can do.”