Swine Health Management
Core concepts
Swine practice is production-driven herd health. Understand the production flow - breeding, gestation, farrowing, nursery, grow-finish - because disease patterns and management differ at each stage. Know the major pathogens and syndromes: porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, porcine circovirus-associated disease, swine influenza, and enteric diseases such as rotavirus and Escherichia coli in neonates. Biosecurity and batch/All-In/All-Out flow are central to control.
Metrics and economics
Be able to interpret production metrics: pigs weaned per sow per year, pre-weaning mortality, average daily gain, feed conversion, and mortality by stage. Understand the veterinarian's role in herd health planning, vaccination strategy, and antimicrobial stewardship, including regulatory constraints on antimicrobial use in food animals.
Traps
Questions often test whether you can distinguish a breeding-herd problem from a growing-pig problem; the epidemiology and the interventions differ. Another trap is ignoring biosecurity and flow when a vaccine or drug answer is offered. Watch for residue and withdrawal questions - swine are food animals.
Worked example
A farrow-to-finish farm reports a rise in pre-weaning mortality with diarrhea in neonates. The differential includes rotavirus, E. coli, and coccidiosis; the plan combines diagnostics on affected litters with review of colostrum management, farrowing hygiene, and vaccination of sows. Rule of thumb: in swine, a neonatal problem is usually a sow-immunity and hygiene question, not a piglet-treatment question.