A field observational study evaluating antemortem inspection as a predictive tool for postmortem lesion findings at a Portuguese pig abattoir.

Abstract

Risk-based inspection of pigs at the abattoir depends on accurately identifying high-risk animals before slaughter. Food Chain Information (FCI) provides data on farm management, animal health, and treatments that can support this process; however, its limited completeness and reliability highlight the need for complementary approaches. Antemortem (AM) conditions may serve as practical predictors of postmortem (PM) lesions, supporting the development of risk-based inspection systems. This study investigated the potential of AM inspection in detecting PM lesions in finisher pigs, slaughtered at a commercial abattoir in Portugal. Data were collected from 62 batches (n = 9542 pigs) for a cross-sectional study, and 245 pigs for a case control study. Detection of coughing, skin lesions, and growth retardation was significantly higher when pigs were inspected from inside the pens, compared with unloading or outside the pens observations. At batch-level coughing at AM inspection was associated with a higher number of PM lesions, particularly pneumonia (OR = 1.08) and pleurisy (OR = 1.03). At animal-level, AM conditions showed consistent associations with PM lesions, including coughing with pneumonia (OR = 6.7), and lung lesion (OR = 6.2), lameness with arthritis (OR = 14.9) and growth retardation with several PM lesions. These findings are consistent with those reported in other countries and confirm that specific AM conditions can reliably predict certain PM lesions, contributing to the refinement of risk-based inspection approaches in Portugal.