OAHN Swine Project: Porcine Parasitology Testing (in progress)

Project Lead: Drs. Christa Arsenault and Josepha DeLay

Collaborators: 

Project Proposal

The OAHN Swine Network analyzes swine provincial and federal condemnation each quarter.  The number one cause of condemnations at provincial abattoirs is due to parasitic livers. Federal abattoirs also report a high frequency of condemnations due to parasitic livers quarterly.  Swine deworming products are available, have been used for many years in commercial swine production, and are considered to be a routine practice and effective by swine veterinarians.  It is assumed that these preventative products may be dropped by some producers during challenging financial times and possibly thinking that these products are not always needed as they don’t receive feedback on parasite issues. The OAHN swine network feels that this project would provide more information on if cases with high parasitology numbers are being detected in herds that are routinely using commercially available deworming products or if only being found in herds that are not using these products at all or under labelled directions.  Overtime it is also possible that resistance has developed to these deworming products.  It is also possible that this project may reveal that swine producers have dropped the use of regular deworming products thinking that they may not make a difference in pigs raised in an indoor setting.  The network felt that this project would yield valuable information providing a better understanding on why so many abattoir condemnations are due to parasitic reasons.  This project may also provide valuable information to Ontario swine producers to see if there is value for money using deworming products, information on the best timing to use these products to provide more parasite control and may give insight into if swine parasites have developed any resistance to commercial swine deworming products.