Monitoring antibodies to mycoplasma hyopneumoniae in sow colostrum: a tool to document freedom of infection

In a survey in Finland in 1995, 14,919 colostral whey samples from 530 farrowing herds were analysed by a monoclonal blocking-ELISA to detect antibodies to Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M. hyopneumoniae). Antibodies were detected in 274 (1.8%) samples and in 42 herds (7.9%). The median prevalence of sows with antibodies in seropositive herds was 28.2% (range, 2.7-100%). According to clinical and pathological follow-up in finishing herds in 1996, all of the farrowing herds which were seronegative in 1995, were truly non-infected with M. hyopneumoniae. In acutely infected herds, samples collected earlier than 2 h after farrowing were 3 times more likely to contain antibodies than samples collected 2-12 h after farrowing (odds ratio, 3.0; 95% CI, 1.4-6.6). Repeated freezing or spoilage of the colostrum samples did not cause biologically relevant problems for the ELISA. Antibodies to M. hyopneumoniae were shown to persist up to 3 years in some sows. As a conclusion, colostrum samples were very sensitive samples for the screening of herds for M. hyopneumoniae infection and possibly also for a regular surveillance.