Risk factors and epidemiological characteristics of new neonatal porcine diarrhoea syndrome in four Danish herds

BMC Veterinary Research

Table 7 Description of risk factors evaluated in the study

Risk-factors	Level	Categorization
Herd ¹	1,2,3,4
Sow-related factors
Parity	Young	1st parity
Parity	Mature	2nd-7th parity
Litter size	Large²	Gilts: >15 piglets, Sows: >18 piglets
Litter size	Small	Gilts: <16 piglets, Sows: < 19 piglets
Stillborn	Many	>1 piglet
Stillborn	Few	0-1 piglets
Clinical disease	Yes	Mastitis and/or temp > 39.5°C and/or leg problems and/or vulva discharge³
Clinical disease	No	None of the above
Piglet-related factors ⁴
Gender	Male
Gender	Female
Birth weight	Continuous scale
Faecal consistency	Liquid	Watery or liquid consistency of rectal contents
Faecal consistency	Normal	Creamy, firm or solid consistency of rectal contents and if no faeces on swab
Flanks	Hollow	Area behind ribs turned inwards
Flanks	Normal	Area behind ribs followed the line of the ribs
Hair coat	Rough	Hair coat appeared dull
Hair coat	Normal	Hair coat did not appear dull

¹No herd effect was included in the overall parity-separated models.
²Litters above mean size of the parity group in question were considered large.
³Mastitis: One or more udder section hard, red or sore when palpated. Leg problems: The sow was unwilling to bear weight on all legs or sore at palpation. Vulva discharge: An excess of unclear or foul-smelling discharge.
⁴Protruding ribs, fore-knee abrasions and dehydration were too low prevalent to be included in the statistical models.
All clinical signs were assessed on the day of parturition/birth.

ISSN: 1746-6148