Associations of Ascaris suum and Oesophagostomum spp. infections of sows with management factors in 83 Danish sow herds

Abstract

Associations of the occurrence of Ascaris suum and Oesophagostomum spp. in sows with herd management factors were examined using logistic-binomial regression. The information used was from 11 to 78 sows sampled from each of 83 breeding herds (2961 sows in total) and examined for eggs per gram of faeces (EPG). A sow excreting at least 20 EPG was defined as ‘infected’. Management factors of the study herds were recorded using a questionnaire. A total of 263 sows from 50 herds (8.9% of sows) and 375 sows from 20 herds (12.7% of sows) were infected with A. suum and Oesophagostomum spp., respectively. For A. suum, sows from herds with more than 85 sows had significantly higher odds of being infected compared with those from 30 to 85 sows ( P < 0.05). When bedding was provided for sows, the odds of A. suum infection was 5.4 compared with sows from herds in which bedding was not provided ( P < 0.05). For Oesophagostomum spp., sows from herds with different specific pathogen free status had about one tenth the odds of being infected compared with those from conventional herds ( P < 0.05). Sows that had been treated with anthelmintics had very low odds of being infected with Oesophagostomum spp. compared with those that were not treated ( P < 0.05). The effects of these management factors in both final models did not differ when the definition of an ‘infected’ sow was changed. The present results suggest the importance of disposal of bedding material from pens in reducing the prevalence of A. suum in larger sow herds. Anthelmintic treatment is important in reducing the prevalence of Oesophagostomum spp. infection of sows.