In this paper, we provide an introduction to systematic reviews and discuss the process for conducting systematic reviews in animal health, animal welfare, and food safety. The research synthesis need that can be addressed by a systematic review is discussed. The use of systematic reviews to address questions about intervention effects, etiology, diagnostic tests evaluation and disease burden are discussed. The steps included in a systematic review are described.

Routine procedures carried out on piglets (i.e. castration, tail docking, teeth clipping, and ear notching) are considered painful. Unfortunately the efficacy of current pain mitigation modalities is poorly understood. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesize the existing primary scientific literature regarding the effectiveness of pain management interventions used for routine procedures on piglets. The review question was, ‘In piglets under twenty-eight days old, undergoing castration, tail docking, teeth clipping, and/or methods of identification that involve cutting of the ear tissue, what is the effect of pain mitigation compared with no pain mitigation on behavioral and non-behavioral outcomes that indicate procedural pain and post-procedural pain?’ A review protocol was designed a priori. Data sources used were Agricola (EBSCO), CAB Abstracts (Thomson Reuters), PubMed, Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), BIOSIS Previews (Thomson Reuters), and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text. No restrictions on year of publication or language were placed on the search. Eligible studies assessed an intervention designed to mitigate the pain of the procedures of interest and included a comparison group that did not receive an intervention. Eligible non-English studies were translated using a translation service. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts for relevance using pre-defined questions. Data were extracted from relevant articles onto pre-defined forms. From the 2203 retrieved citations forty publications, containing 52 studies met the eligibility criteria. In 40 studies, piglets underwent castration only. In seven studies, piglets underwent tail docking only. In one study, piglets underwent teeth clipping only, and in one study piglets underwent ear notching only. Three studies used multiple procedures. Thirty-two trial arms assessed general anesthesia protocols, 30 trial arms assessed local anesthetic protocols, and 28 trial arms assessed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) protocols. Forty-one trial arms were controls where piglets received either placebo or no treatment. Forty-five outcomes were extracted from the studies, however only the results from studies that assessed cortisol (six studies), β-endorphins (one study), vocalisations (nine studies), and pain-related behaviors (nine studies) are reported. Other outcomes were reported in only one or two studies. Confident decision making will likely be difficult based on this body of work because lack of comprehensive reporting precludes calculation of the magnitude of pain mitigation for most outcomes.

Piglets reared in swine production in the USA undergo painful procedures that include castration, tail docking, teeth clipping, and identification with ear notching or tagging. These procedures are usually performed without pain mitigation. The objective of this project was to develop recommendations for pain mitigation in 1- to 28-day-old piglets undergoing these procedures. The National Pork Board funded project to develop recommendations for pain mitigation in piglets. Recommendation development followed a defined multi-step process that included an evidence summary and estimates of the efficacies of interventions. The results of a systematic review of the interventions were reported in a companion paper. This manuscript describes the recommendation development process and the final recommendations. Recommendations were developed for three interventions (CO2/O2 general anesthesia, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and lidocaine) for use during castration. The ability to make strong recommendations was limited by low-quality evidence and strong certainty about variation in stakeholder values and preferences. The panel strongly recommended against the use of a CO2/O2 general anesthesia mixture, weakly recommended for the use of NSAIDs and weakly recommended against the use of lidocaine for pain mitigation during castration of 1- to 28-day-old piglets.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains are food-borne pathogens that are an important public health concern. STEC infection is associated with severe clinical diseases in human beings, including hemorrhagic colitis (HC) and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can lead to kidney failure and death. Cattle are the most important STEC reservoir. However, a number of STEC outbreaks and HUS cases have been attributed to pork products. In swine, STEC strains are known to be associated with edema disease. Nevertheless, the relationship between STEC of swine origin and human illness has yet to be determined. This review critically summarizes epidemiologic and biological studies of swine STEC. Several epidemiologic studies conducted in multiple regions of the world have demonstrated that domestic swine can carry and shed STEC. Moreover, animal studies have demonstrated that swine are susceptible to STEC O157:H7 infection and can shed the bacterium for 2 months. A limited number of molecular epidemiologic studies, however, have provided conflicting evidence regarding the relationship between swine STEC and human illness. The role that swine play in STEC transmission to people and the contribution to human disease frequency requires further evaluation.

Eosinophils play a crucial role in the inflammatory response in conjunction with both innate and adaptive immunity. Eosinophils have long been recognized as inflammatory leukocytes that are particularly important in patients with parasitic infestations. However, recent studies in veterinary medicine demonstrate a number of canine eosinophilic gastrointestinal (GI) disorders unrelated to a parasitic infestation. Although the underlying pathophysiology behind eosinophilic infiltration of the canine GI tract remains uncertain, medical intervention aiming to decrease the activation of eosinophils seems effective in reducing symptoms and preventing organ damage. This review focuses on the biology of eosinophils and their products. It describes, the composition of eosinophil granules, mechanisms of eosinophil activation, and eosinophil-related disease processes leading to organ damage. Even though the main clinical signs of canine eosinophilic gastroenteritis, vomiting and diarrhea, are similar to those of other types of gastroenteritis, the clinical response and prognosis are worse for this condition. The clinical signs and diagnostic approach for eosinophilic GI disorders are described and compared between canine and human patients for each region of GI tract, from the esophagus to the colon. Moreover, the current treatments for this syndrome in canine and human patients are summarized and paralleled. The comparative study of canine and human patients with eosinophilic gastroenteritis will advance the understanding of this syndrome in both species and may lead to the development of novel treatment strategies.

Classical swine fever (CSF) is one of the most devastating epizootic diseases of pigs, causing high morbidity and mortality worldwide. The diversity of clinical signs and similarity in disease manifestations to other diseases make CSF difficult to diagnose with certainty. The disease is further complicated by the presence of a number of different strains belonging to three phylogenetic groups. Advanced diagnostic techniques allow detection of antigens or antibodies in clinical samples, leading to implementation of proper and effective control programs. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods, including portable real-time PCR, provide diagnosis in a few hours with precision and accuracy, even at the point of care. The disease is controlled by following a stamping out policy in countries where vaccination is not practiced, whereas immunization with live attenuated vaccines containing the ‘C’ strain is effectively used to control the disease in endemic countries. To overcome the problem of differentiation of infected from vaccinated animals, different types of marker vaccines, with variable degrees of efficacy, along with companion diagnostic assays have been developed and may be useful in controlling and even eradicating the disease in the foreseeable future. The present review aims to provide an overview and status of CSF as a whole with special reference to swine husbandry in India.

Viral disease is one of the major causes of financial loss and animal suffering in today's cattle industry. Increases in global commerce and average herd size, urbanization, vertical integration within the industry and alterations in global climate patterns have allowed the spread of pathogenic viruses, or the introduction of new viral species, into regions previously free of such pathogens, creating the potential for widespread morbidity and mortality in naïve cattle populations. Despite this, no antiviral products are currently commercially licensed for use in bovine medicine, although significant progress has been made in the development of antivirals for use against bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV) and bovine herpesvirus (BHV). BVDV is extensively studied as a model virus for human antiviral studies. Consequently, many compounds with efficacy have been identified and a few have been successfully used to prevent infection in vivo although commercial development is still lacking. FMDV is also the subject of extensive antiviral testing due to the importance of outbreak containment for maintenance of export markets. Thirdly, BHV presents an attractive target for antiviral development due to its worldwide presence. Antiviral studies for other bovine viral pathogens are largely limited to preliminary studies. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge of antiviral compounds against several key bovine pathogens and the potential for commercial antiviral applications in the prevention and control of several selected bovine diseases.