Vaccination of piglets up to 1 week of age with a single-dose Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae vaccine induces protective immunity within 2 weeks against virulent challenge in the presence of maternally derived antibodies.

Enzootic pneumonia, resulting from infection with Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, is of considerable economic importance to the pig industry and normally is controlled through active vaccination of piglets. We have demonstrated that administration of an inactivated Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae vaccine to piglets less than 1 week old is efficacious under field conditions and reduces the level of lung lesions observed in comparison to that in control pigs. Here, the results of two separate studies, one in piglets with and the second one in piglets without maternal antibodies, conducted to satisfy the requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia (monograph no. 07/2009:2448), are reported. Piglets received either minimal titer Suvaxyn MH-One or saline at less than 1 week of age and were challenged with Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae 2 weeks later. The number of lung lesions was recorded 4 weeks after challenge, and bronchial swab and lung tissue specimens were analyzed for quantification of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae DNA. In the presence and absence of maternal antibodies, vaccination of piglets at less than 1 week of age was efficacious, with vaccinated piglets having significantly lower percentages of lung with lesions and lower Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae counts detected in bronchial swab and lung tissue specimens at necropsy. In conclusion, the vaccination of piglets at 1 week of age with Suvaxyn MH-One is efficacious in the presence of high levels of maternal antibodies.