Advances in understanding the development of immune function in pigs

Publication date: 31/10/2022
Extent: 26 pages

Contributions by: Lorenzo Fraile, University of Lleida, Spain

Chapter synopsis: Medicine preventive programs in swine medicine are focused on minimising the negative effects of diseases on pig production. In the case of neonatal diseases, the acquisition of maternally derived acquired immunity , through colostrum ingestion, is critical to providing enough humoral and cellular immunity to piglets before they can develop their own immune response against common pathogens. The immaturity of the neonatal immune system during the first four weeks of life and the presence of MDA could hinder the immune response generated in piglets with vaccines administered during the neonatal period. Thus, strategies to overcome MDA and the immaturity of the piglet are a necessary future trend in swine vaccinology that could be based on the use of different combinations of adjuvants, the use of different routes of vaccine administration and the developing of new vaccine approaches for piglets.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2022.0103.05