March 6, 2025 • 10 mins
Dr. Luke Strehle of Nebraska Vet Services, a full-service mixed animal practice based in West Point, Nebraska, joins us to share his insight on swine respiratory pathogens – how to reduce and eliminate their risk as well what interventions are available to manage pig health.
This episode is brought to you by Pharmgate Animal Health, a growing business that puts livestock first. Pharmgate provides a proven portfolio of technically supported, high-quality products that are the foundation of custom herd health protocols. By offering multiple options for active ingredients, concentrations, and administration routes, Pharmgate provides you with choices to fit your needs backed by a team with technical expertise to get the results you want.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to Feedstuffs in Focus, our podcast taking a
look at the big issues affectingthe livestock, poultry grain
and animal feed industries.
I'm your host, sarah Muirhead.
This episode is brought to youby FarmGate Animal Health, a
growing business that putslivestock first.
Farmgate Animal Health, agrowing business that puts
livestock first.
Farmgate provides a provenportfolio of technically
(00:28):
supported, high-quality productsthat are the foundation of
custom herd health protocols.
By offering multiple optionsfor active ingredients,
concentrations andadministration routes, farmgate
provides you with the choices tofit your needs, backed by a
team with technical expertise toget the results you want.
Dr Luke Straley of Nebraska VetServices, a full-service mixed
(00:51):
animal practice based in WestPoint Nebraska, joins us in this
episode of Feedstuffs in Focusto share his insight on swine
respiratory pathogens, how toreduce and eliminate their risk,
as well as what interventionsare available to manage pig
health.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, thanks for having me on today.
So again, name is Luke Straley,veterinary and Nebraska Vet
Services.
In West Point, nebraska, we'rea 12 doctor of mixed animal
practice.
In Northeast Nebraska we haveagain we're taking care of we're
a mixed animal practice.
We're taking care of mixedanimal practice.
We're taking care of swine,beef, feedlot, dairy, we've got
(01:29):
an embryo transfer business aswell as companion animal
medicine as well.
So on the swine side, there'stwo of us here practicing swine
medicine and we're overseeingaround 30,000 sows and about a
million pigs annually at ourpractice.
We're also a part of HeritageVet Partners, which is a
(01:51):
combination of mixed animalclinics.
We're up to about 20 clinicsnow with over 100 veterinarians
In all.
There's about a half a dozen ofus practicing swine medicine in
that group across Nebraska,minnesota, iowa, south Dakota,
kansas, missouri, illinois andIndiana.
(02:11):
So yeah, our producers would beprimarily independent producers
anywhere from 50 to 5,000 sows,you know, like I said, mostly
independent producers withvarying degrees of issues.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
So let's talk pigs here today.
During the winter months, tellus how producers are successful
in reducing or eliminating therisk of lateral disease
introduction within your sowsystems.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Absolutely when it comes to disease prevention and
management.
Can't discuss that withoutsaying biosecurity prevention
and management.
Can't discuss that withoutsaying biosecurity.
Biosecurity is a very blanketterm for anything we can do, but
any step that we can put intoplace that mitigates the risk of
introducing a pathogen is veryimportant.
Not every facility is set upfor the pristine shower in,
(03:01):
shower out type of biosecurity.
So sometimes folks are limitedto thinking that if they can't
get that accomplished thenbiosecurity is out of the
equation for them.
But really it comes down to theimportance of understanding
lines of separation whetherthat's with a Dutch entry and a
bench entry type system orclothes changing, but really
(03:24):
just designating where is thatline of separation where I can
prevent from introducing a newdisease onto my farm?
So it's really important not tothrow your hands in the air from
the biosecurity setting and sayI can't implement a shower-in
shower-out, so I can't practicebiosecurity Beyond that, just
the personnel entering andexiting the farm on a daily
(03:46):
basis.
It's really important tounderstand transport biosecurity
and making sure that ourhaulers and trucks and equipment
that we're using fortransporting the animals are
clean when they show up to thefarm using for transporting the
animals are clean when they showup to the farm and making sure
that, if we are having to choremultiple facilities and just
(04:07):
beyond the sow farm, that we'rechoring those from youngest to
oldest, or understanding diseasestatuses throughout the week
and how we're moving throughthose farms and those systems.
So the blanket term ofbiosecurity can be applied to
multiple scenarios, not just theshower in, shower out that we
typically think of when somebodysays biosecurity.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
If you see an introduction of swine
respiratory disease in a farm,what are the typical signs, the
symptoms you look for?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
So recent outbreaks and the clinical signs that
we'll see, it kind of depends onthe pathogen.
But if we think of the majorplayers when it comes to swine
respiratory disease, you knowwe're looking at PRRS or
influenza and when those twopathogens might enter a farm you
(04:58):
might see obviously the morereproductive signs at first and
then you'll see more of therespiratory challenges in the
piglets.
If it is influenza, you mightactually see overall coughing,
true coughing, but sometimesit's just a subtle off feed that
could be showing the clinicalsigns of a new introduction of a
(05:19):
respiratory pathogen.
So anywhere from an increase inabortions, increase in
stillborns, obviously we'retalking about respiratory
pathogens, but the clinicalsigns on the farm are going to
be multisystemic in how theypresent.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
So then, what sort of an impact on the farm's
production have you experiencedwith recent outbreaks?
Speaker 2 (05:41):
impact on the farm's production have you experienced
with recent outbreaks?
So recent outbreaks on farmswill vary in aggressiveness and
how that particular pathogenreally affects the farm, but you
can have short-term losses ashigh as 50% pre-wean mortality
and even just a lingeringchallenge that can influence the
(06:02):
farm's overall throughputgreatly as high as 20% annually
over time with these types ofoutbreaks.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
So when you talk about respiratory pathogens,
what sort of interventions mightyou use to manage the health of
the farm?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, at first, when we start to see the clinical
signs, we're probably going toreach for some ancillary
treatments that might help uswith the off-feed events
typically created by a fever.
So we might be using NSAIDs,there might be probiotics or
other products that are tryingto boost the immune system and
help to protect that individualsow, and then broad spectrum
(06:41):
antimicrobials might be used notonly to protect that sow
herself but that might have agood opportunity to reduce her
shedding of other bacterialagents that can protect the
litter, or even products thatmight have a good volume of
distribution and have a highlikelihood of even ending up in
(07:02):
the milk and getting to thatpiglet.
So you know, those type ofantimicrobial selections are
going to be made based on howit's going to perform in the
animal and what we should expectfor a response.
One of the important aspects ofantimicrobial selection is
going to be that volume ofdistribution in a drug that's
got a high likelihood ofpreventing a broad spectrum of
(07:22):
shedding in bacterial pathogensand a likelihood of maybe even
getting into the milk andgetting those piglets.
So Avalosin has been a productthat I have used in those
situations where we want broadspectrum antimicrobial control
for swine respiratory disease.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
What other applications have you seen
successful, especially in thegrowing pig phase?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah, in the growing pig phase with some swine
respiratory challenges, reallybeen happy with again the broad
spectrum control, whether thatis a group of coughing pigs with
a history of strep challengesor mycoplasma, high rhinus
challenges, glacerella, parasuus, so lots of different
(08:04):
respiratory bacterial pathogens,but also in conjunction with a
viral challenge.
Just knowing that we're goingto be able to control those
secondaries had a lot of successwith putting Avilacin in those
situations to control theoverall disease progression.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
What final thoughts do you want to leave our
audience with here today when itcomes to, you know, respiratory
challenges or pig management,anything along those lines?
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, another component beyond the biosecurity
, of preventing these diseasesfrom being introduced into the
farm and respiratory disease.
Especially this time of year inthe colder temperatures where
we get into a lot of minimumventilation type settings, it's
always important to neveroverlook your ventilation and
making sure that ourantimicrobial selection is
(09:04):
judicious in that it's going tohave an effectiveness on the
target pathogen and have theability to get to the site of
the infection.
So when we're looking for broadspectrum and high volume of
distribution, I've really beenhappy with what Abelson has to
offer from the ability of whatthat antimicrobial can do in the
(09:25):
animal.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Our thanks to Dr Luke Straley of Nebraska Vet
Services for joining us heretoday.
This episode is brought to youby Farmgate Animal Health, a
growing business that putslivestock first.
Farmgate provides a provenportfolio of technically
supported, high-quality productsthat are the foundation of
custom herd health protocols.
By offering multiple optionsfor active ingredients,
(09:47):
concentrations andadministration route, farmgate
provides you with choices to fityour needs, backed by a team
with technical expertise to getthe results you want.
I'm Sarah Muirhead and you'vebeen listening to Feedstuffs In
Focus.
If you would like to hear moreconversations about some of the
big issues affecting thelivestock, poultry grain and
animal feed industries,subscribe to this podcast on
(10:11):
your favorite podcast channel.
Until next time, have a greatday and thank you for listening.
Welcome to Feedstuffs in Focus, our podcast taking a
look at the big issues affectingthe livestock, poultry grain
and animal feed industries.
I'm your host, sarah Muirhead.
This episode is brought to youby FarmGate Animal Health, a
growing business that putslivestock first.
Farmgate Animal Health, agrowing business that puts
livestock first.
Farmgate provides a provenportfolio of technically
(00:28):
supported, high-quality productsthat are the foundation of
custom herd health protocols.
By offering multiple optionsfor active ingredients,
concentrations andadministration routes, farmgate
provides you with the choices tofit your needs, backed by a
team with technical expertise toget the results you want.
Dr Luke Straley of Nebraska VetServices, a full-service mixed
(00:51):
animal practice based in WestPoint Nebraska, joins us in this
episode of Feedstuffs in Focusto share his insight on swine
respiratory pathogens, how toreduce and eliminate their risk,
as well as what interventionsare available to manage pig
health.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, thanks for having me on today.
So again, name is Luke Straley,veterinary and Nebraska Vet
Services.
In West Point, nebraska, we'rea 12 doctor of mixed animal
practice.
In Northeast Nebraska we haveagain we're taking care of we're
a mixed animal practice.
We're taking care of mixedanimal practice.
We're taking care of swine,beef, feedlot, dairy, we've got
(01:29):
an embryo transfer business aswell as companion animal
medicine as well.
So on the swine side, there'stwo of us here practicing swine
medicine and we're overseeingaround 30,000 sows and about a
million pigs annually at ourpractice.
We're also a part of HeritageVet Partners, which is a
(01:51):
combination of mixed animalclinics.
We're up to about 20 clinicsnow with over 100 veterinarians
In all.
There's about a half a dozen ofus practicing swine medicine in
that group across Nebraska,minnesota, iowa, south Dakota,
kansas, missouri, illinois andIndiana.
(02:11):
So yeah, our producers would beprimarily independent producers
anywhere from 50 to 5,000 sows,you know, like I said, mostly
independent producers withvarying degrees of issues.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
So let's talk pigs here today.
During the winter months, tellus how producers are successful
in reducing or eliminating therisk of lateral disease
introduction within your sowsystems.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Absolutely when it comes to disease prevention and
management.
Can't discuss that withoutsaying biosecurity prevention
and management.
Can't discuss that withoutsaying biosecurity.
Biosecurity is a very blanketterm for anything we can do, but
any step that we can put intoplace that mitigates the risk of
introducing a pathogen is veryimportant.
Not every facility is set upfor the pristine shower in,
(03:01):
shower out type of biosecurity.
So sometimes folks are limitedto thinking that if they can't
get that accomplished thenbiosecurity is out of the
equation for them.
But really it comes down to theimportance of understanding
lines of separation whetherthat's with a Dutch entry and a
bench entry type system orclothes changing, but really
(03:24):
just designating where is thatline of separation where I can
prevent from introducing a newdisease onto my farm?
So it's really important not tothrow your hands in the air from
the biosecurity setting and sayI can't implement a shower-in
shower-out, so I can't practicebiosecurity Beyond that, just
the personnel entering andexiting the farm on a daily
(03:46):
basis.
It's really important tounderstand transport biosecurity
and making sure that ourhaulers and trucks and equipment
that we're using fortransporting the animals are
clean when they show up to thefarm using for transporting the
animals are clean when they showup to the farm and making sure
that, if we are having to choremultiple facilities and just
(04:07):
beyond the sow farm, that we'rechoring those from youngest to
oldest, or understanding diseasestatuses throughout the week
and how we're moving throughthose farms and those systems.
So the blanket term ofbiosecurity can be applied to
multiple scenarios, not just theshower in, shower out that we
typically think of when somebodysays biosecurity.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
If you see an introduction of swine
respiratory disease in a farm,what are the typical signs, the
symptoms you look for?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
So recent outbreaks and the clinical signs that
we'll see, it kind of depends onthe pathogen.
But if we think of the majorplayers when it comes to swine
respiratory disease, you knowwe're looking at PRRS or
influenza and when those twopathogens might enter a farm you
(04:58):
might see obviously the morereproductive signs at first and
then you'll see more of therespiratory challenges in the
piglets.
If it is influenza, you mightactually see overall coughing,
true coughing, but sometimesit's just a subtle off feed that
could be showing the clinicalsigns of a new introduction of a
(05:19):
respiratory pathogen.
So anywhere from an increase inabortions, increase in
stillborns, obviously we'retalking about respiratory
pathogens, but the clinicalsigns on the farm are going to
be multisystemic in how theypresent.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
So then, what sort of an impact on the farm's
production have you experiencedwith recent outbreaks?
Speaker 2 (05:41):
impact on the farm's production have you experienced
with recent outbreaks?
So recent outbreaks on farmswill vary in aggressiveness and
how that particular pathogenreally affects the farm, but you
can have short-term losses ashigh as 50% pre-wean mortality
and even just a lingeringchallenge that can influence the
(06:02):
farm's overall throughputgreatly as high as 20% annually
over time with these types ofoutbreaks.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
So when you talk about respiratory pathogens,
what sort of interventions mightyou use to manage the health of
the farm?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, at first, when we start to see the clinical
signs, we're probably going toreach for some ancillary
treatments that might help uswith the off-feed events
typically created by a fever.
So we might be using NSAIDs,there might be probiotics or
other products that are tryingto boost the immune system and
help to protect that individualsow, and then broad spectrum
(06:41):
antimicrobials might be used notonly to protect that sow
herself but that might have agood opportunity to reduce her
shedding of other bacterialagents that can protect the
litter, or even products thatmight have a good volume of
distribution and have a highlikelihood of even ending up in
(07:02):
the milk and getting to thatpiglet.
So you know, those type ofantimicrobial selections are
going to be made based on howit's going to perform in the
animal and what we should expectfor a response.
One of the important aspects ofantimicrobial selection is
going to be that volume ofdistribution in a drug that's
got a high likelihood ofpreventing a broad spectrum of
(07:22):
shedding in bacterial pathogensand a likelihood of maybe even
getting into the milk andgetting those piglets.
So Avalosin has been a productthat I have used in those
situations where we want broadspectrum antimicrobial control
for swine respiratory disease.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
What other applications have you seen
successful, especially in thegrowing pig phase?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah, in the growing pig phase with some swine
respiratory challenges, reallybeen happy with again the broad
spectrum control, whether thatis a group of coughing pigs with
a history of strep challengesor mycoplasma, high rhinus
challenges, glacerella, parasuus, so lots of different
(08:04):
respiratory bacterial pathogens,but also in conjunction with a
viral challenge.
Just knowing that we're goingto be able to control those
secondaries had a lot of successwith putting Avilacin in those
situations to control theoverall disease progression.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
What final thoughts do you want to leave our
audience with here today when itcomes to, you know, respiratory
challenges or pig management,anything along those lines?
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, another component beyond the biosecurity
, of preventing these diseasesfrom being introduced into the
farm and respiratory disease.
Especially this time of year inthe colder temperatures where
we get into a lot of minimumventilation type settings, it's
always important to neveroverlook your ventilation and
making sure that ourantimicrobial selection is
(09:04):
judicious in that it's going tohave an effectiveness on the
target pathogen and have theability to get to the site of
the infection.
So when we're looking for broadspectrum and high volume of
distribution, I've really beenhappy with what Abelson has to
offer from the ability of whatthat antimicrobial can do in the
(09:25):
animal.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Our thanks to Dr Luke Straley of Nebraska Vet
Services for joining us heretoday.
This episode is brought to youby Farmgate Animal Health, a
growing business that putslivestock first.
Farmgate provides a provenportfolio of technically
supported, high-quality productsthat are the foundation of
custom herd health protocols.
By offering multiple optionsfor active ingredients,
(09:47):
concentrations andadministration route, farmgate
provides you with choices to fityour needs, backed by a team
with technical expertise to getthe results you want.
I'm Sarah Muirhead and you'vebeen listening to Feedstuffs In
Focus.
If you would like to hear moreconversations about some of the
big issues affecting thelivestock, poultry grain and
animal feed industries,subscribe to this podcast on
(10:11):
your favorite podcast channel.
Until next time, have a greatday and thank you for listening.
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