Field trials of an inactivated virus vaccine against porcine parvovirus

Abstract

Serological response and reproductive performance were estimated in field trials of an inactivated virus vaccine against porcine parvovirus. Experiments were carried out in 10 selected pig breeding herds. A total of 277 seronegative gilts were used. Two hundred and twenty animals were vaccinated twice before mating, fourteen days apart and revaccinated after farrowing. Blood samples were obtained from both vaccinated and non-vaccinated (57 animal) control gilts, one week after the 2nd dose of vaccination, at farrowing time and one week after revaccination. Although there were considerable variations among the herds, the number of returns to oestrus in all herds was higher in vaccinated gilts (11.81%) than in the controls (10.52%). This difference, however, was not statistically significant. The reproductive performance results revealed the absence of an increase in the total born, as pooled values, in vaccinated gilts compared to controls. However, when these results are interpreted in relation to serological data, many control gilts were already seropositive before mating, or remained seronegative at farrowing. According to our results, the duration of immunity with this vaccine is apparently short, as there is a clear decrease in the titres between the 1st and the 2nd sampling times (2.35 +/- 0.14 and 1.97 +/- 0.08, respectively).