Publications by authors named "Lisbeth Harm Nielsen"

is a zoonotic parasite, which historically has been of large concern for public health in Europe. Consequently, testing of all pigs for has been mandatory in many European countries, even though is almost exclusively found in outdoor or backyard production. The idea therefore emerged that auditing for biosecurity should replace testing in indoor production.

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African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) is the cause of an infectious disease in pigs, which is difficult to control. Long viability of ASFV has been shown for several contaminated materials, especially under low temperature. Therefore, when pigs are exposed to a contaminated environment, new infections could occur without the presence of infectious individuals.

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Denmark is a major pig exporter and applies a high level of biosecurity, with washing and disinfecting stations for returning livestock vehicles. The introduction of African Swine Fever (ASF) would have significant economic consequences related to loss of export of live pigs and products thereof. In this study, we focused on the role of empty livestock vehicles returning after exports of pigs for the introduction of ASF.

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Denmark has not had cases of bovine tuberculosis (bovTB) for more than 30 years but is obliged by trade agreements to undertake traditional meat inspection (TMI) of finisher pigs from non-controlled housing to detect bovTB. TMI is associated with higher probability of detecting bovTB but is also more costly than visual-only inspection (VOI). To identify whether VOI should replace TMI of finisher pigs from non-controlled housing, the cost of error - defined here as probability of overlooking infection and associated economic costs - should be assessed and compared with surveillance costs.

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Denmark was considered not to have an established population of free-ranging wild boar. Today, sporadic observations of wild boar challenge that view. Due to its reservoir role for economic devastating swine diseases, wild boar represents a potential threat for Denmark's position as a large pig- and pork-exporting country.

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Background: Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) has never been reported in Denmark, but it has been found in Europe, Asia and North America. Ultimately, PEDV has been associated with devastating outbreaks in pig farms. We developed a stochastic simulation model to carry out a quantitative risk assessment and to estimate the annual probability () of introducing PEDV into the Danish pig population, by imported spray-dried porcine plasma (SDPP).

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A specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of antibodies to the porcine pathogen Lawsonia intracellularis was developed and evaluated using sera from naïve, naturally infected as well as experimentally infected pigs. On the basis of 37 serum samples collected from experimentally infected pigs and 62 serum samples from naturally infected pigs the sensitivity of the ELISA was calculated to 98.0%.

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