**5. Possible control procedure to be performed**

The PPV-induced reproductive failures can be prevented by making sure that the develop‐ ment of the females' immune response occurred before conception. The immune response can result from natural exposure or from vaccination which is a common practice and per‐

In swine, the efficiency of the AI programs is related to higher pregnancy rates, reduced es‐ trus repetition rates and high number of the piglets born per litter. However, to obtain re‐ productive efficiency, several parameters must be optimized such as the animal nutrition, thermal comfort, skilled labor, genetics and mainly the sanitary aspect. This last factor is fundamental for the herd of the animals involved in reproduction to be totally free from dis‐ ease and properly immunized against the most common diseases that can lead to reproduc‐

Therefore, the assurance of the animals' health is extremely important to ensure the absence of contamination of the animals' semen. From the scientific evidence that the presence of a virus or bacteria in the male' semen may reduce the fertility rates in the male and the female to be inseminated, the animal contamination by infectious diseases should be avoided.

The direct impact that occurs in males is mainly related to reduction in the sperm quality and numbers of doses produced. The reason for the impairment of the semen quality is not totally elucidated. Therefore, the losses to the farmer is considerable because it is often nec‐ essary to discard the boar because irreversible degenerative changes at testicular and epidi‐

Solis et al. [75] reported that the experimental infection of the animals with porcine rubula‐ virus (PoRV), which causes the blue eye disease (BED) was able to cause orchitis in animals, as also affecting the portion of the epididymis. The virus was detected in the semen, either in the sperm and jell fraction. Those researchers observed the ability of this virus to cause severe alterations in sperm concentration, motility and morphology of the infected animals'. Those changes were aggravated according to the time of the sperm storage. Taking into ac‐ count that the virus does not affect the adjacent glands, the seminal volume remained un‐ changed. The changes in other parameters occurred due to inflammatory event of the virus on the spermatic ducts, as leading to loss of the spermatic cells. Most viruses behave like aforementioned, however there are still many doubts about the extent of the virus interac‐ tion with the spermatozoids. Thus, future molecular studies are needed to elucidate the

In females, reports suggest that PRRSV was previously isolated from ovaries of infected ani‐ mals, particularly locating in either granulose cells layer and theca cells layer in atretic folli‐ cles of those animals. However, there are no reports of this virus in sows' oocytes [76, 77] neither the viral effect on their development ability. In infections associated with PCV 2, the oocytes collected from serum-positive animals for infection did not show to be positive for

formed at least annually [74].

mechanism of those diseases.

tive disorders.

**4. The interference of diseases in AI efficiency**

128 Success in Artificial Insemination - Quality of Semen and Diagnostics Employed

dymal levels by diseases that lead to fever for prolonged periods.

Because the differences in the prevalence rates of the diseases among countries and even re‐ gions, the control strategies will differ according to incidence of each disease. Therefore, the policies for eradication, vaccination and isolation of the animals in farms are very dependa‐ ble on the types of disease the animals would be more exposed.

The preventive procedures against transmission of infectious diseases via semen depend on the control routine. The AI must be understood as a contaminative potential for swine females, since it is a vehicle for disease transmission. Thus, the insemination cen‐ ters should be regularly controlled and monitored according to specific criteria. Howev‐ er, even before considering the potential for contamination through semen, it is necessary to pay attention to the possibility for disease introduction through acquisition of a living animal. Thus, some practices such as the introduction of animals which are serologically negative or animals proceeding from seronegative herds and to avoid the contact of the animals pertaining to insemination center with external people are essen‐ tial to prevent the introduction of diseases. After acquisition and routinely on farms, the male considered as potential disease disseminator only will be introduced in the semen collect program after a quarantine period, during which he remains isolated and under observation in order to verify if there is any abnormality sign. After introduction of the male in the breeding herds, it should be daily observed for signs indicating clinical dis‐ ease. In the case of any abnormality in those animals, semen collections should be imme‐ diately interrupted. This method is highly effective for controlling the diseases that present evident clinical signs.

sow. However, there is no vaccine against some of those agents such as the ASF case, there‐

The Potential for Infectious Disease Contamination During the Artificial Insemination Procedure in Swine

The increasing tendency of the international trade in pigs' embryos and gametes has been stimulating an intensive investigation of the disease transmission via semen and porcine embryos. There are numerous diseases, both bacterial and viral causes, which are linked to transmission via boars' semen. In particular, each agent provides a type of interaction with gametes and has a specific site of action, which hinders the establish‐ ment of specific control procedures. Thus, despite the promising researches, many con‐ clusive studies are required to ensure the innocuousness of the gametes from the infected animals. In addition, the effective and rapid diagnostic methods and effective control procedures should be developed and optimized in order to allow the access to

The autors thank the book editor Dr. Alemayehu Lemma for comments, Ms. Iva Simic by

1 Animal Reproduction Laboratory, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny, São

3 Animal Virology Laboratory, Veterinary Department, Federal University of Viçosa, Viço‐

4 Animal Reproduction Laboratory, Veterinary Department, Federal University of Viçosa,

5 Animal Pathology Laboratory, Department of Veterinary, Federal University of Minas

2 Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Federal University of Viçosa, Rio Paranaíba, Brazil

, Eduardo Paulino da Costa4

and

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/52337

131

the invitation and Federal University of Viçosa for the financial support.

Emílio César Martins Pereira1,2\*, Abelardo Silva Júnior3

\*Address all correspondence to: emiliovet2004@hotmail.com

fore making necessary the individual control methods as previously detailed.

**6. Conclusion**

swine farmers.

**Acknowledgments**

**Author details**

sa, Brazil

Viçosa, Brazil

Carlos Eduardo Real Pereira5

Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Paulo State University, Botucatu, Brazil

Diseases that have high dissemination potential and can be transmitted via aerosols, such as PRRS and AD, as might cause high losses in the farms should be monitored through periodic serological tests. Another important factor to be considered is the hygiene in the farm. The cleaning and disinfection of the installations before the entry of the animals, be‐ sides respecting the sanitary break period, are essential to prevent the dissemination of the pathogens.

The effective use of the antimicrobials to control contamination in diluents can act ef‐ fectively, as minimizing the action of the bacterial and fungal agents [82]. Currently, there are many antimicrobial agents commonly used in seminal diluents such as ami‐ nocyclitols, aminoglycosides, beta-lactams, lincosamides and macrolides. However, these agents do not prove to be totally effective against some of the disease causing agents [18]. In routine of the farm, the antibiotics are added to seminal portions, as expect‐ ing high level of accidental contamination in the attempt to reduce the proliferation of bacteria.

Although the availability of the studies including the use of the antiviral drugs to inhib‐ it the replication of the virus in the male's reproductive tract [83], the control of viral pathogens still needs to be better understood and will follow the pathway similarly to the one accomplished for bacteria [5]. Unlike the semen treatment with antibiotics, which can reduce or prevent the dissemination of venereal diseases caused by bacteria, the anti‐ viral agents used to prevent contamination of the semen are not adopted in the swine IA industry. Therefore, many countries have adopted other successful strategies in mainte‐ nance of the specific viral pathogen-free centers. In those centers, the main control strat‐ egies are based on animal monitoring program for specific viruses. The animals are serologically evaluated and the serologically positive animals are readily eliminated from breeding herds [6].

As previously mentioned, recently Blomqvist et al. [72] observed a reduction higher than 99% at PCV2 concentration in semen samples. This new technique has shown to be effective against several other viral agents, which are present in samples of the human semen and other domestic species' [84-87]. Thus, this method represents a promising alternative for the control of viral contamination in the pigs' semen.

Another possibility for controlling the dissemination of diseases would be the programs for vaccination against the main agents that can be carried by semen and lead to diseases in sow. However, there is no vaccine against some of those agents such as the ASF case, there‐ fore making necessary the individual control methods as previously detailed.
