Utilising abattoir sero-surveillance for high-impact and zoonotic pig diseases in Lao PDR

Abstract National disease surveillance systems are essential to a healthy pig industry but can be costly and logistically complex. In 2019, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) piloted an abattoir disease surveillance system to assess for the presence of high impact pig diseases (HIPDs) using serological methods. The Lao Department of Livestock and Fisheries (DLF) identified Classical Swine Fever (CSF), Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS) and Brucella suis as HIPDs of interest for sero-surveillance purposes. Porcine serum samples (n = 597) were collected from six Lao abattoirs in March to December of 2019. Serological enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods were chosen for their high-throughput and relatively low-costs. The true seroprevalence for CSF and PRRS seropositivity were 68.7%, 95% CI (64.8–72.3) and 39.5%, 95% CI (35.7–43.5), respectively. The results demonstrated no evidence of Brucella spp. seroconversion. Lao breed pigs were less likely to be CSF seropositive (P < 0.05), whilst pigs slaughtered at <1 year of age were less likely to be PRRS seropositive (P < 0.01). The testing methods could not differentiate between seropositivity gained from vaccine or natural infection, and investigators were unable to obtain the vaccine status of the slaughtered pigs from the abattoirs. These results demonstrate that adequate sample sizes are possible from abattoir sero-surveillance and lifetime health traceability is necessary to understand HIPDs in Lao PDR.