
CReSA - UAB. Spain
http://www.cresa.cat
joaquim.Segales@cresa.uab.cat
Joaquim Segalés i Coma was born in Vic (Barcelona) in 1968, he graduated at the Veterinary Faculty of the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB) in 1991. He then received a doctorate in Veterinary Science in 1996 at the same university after having spent 15 months at the University of Minnesota (UM) in the USA, under the codirectorship of Dr. Mariano Domingo (UAB) and Dr. Carlos Pijoan (UM). In 2000 he achieved a diploma at the European College of Veterinary Pathology (ECVP). He currently works as professor at the Department of Animal Anatomy and Welfare at the Veterinary Faculty of the UAB, where he teaches in the area of pathologic anatomy and porcine clinic. He is also a researcher at the Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA) (Centre of Animal Health Research), at the UAB, where he carries out his research work.
Dr. Segalés has taken part in numerous research projects, at both a national and a European level. He is especially skilled in different porcine diseases and has collaboration agreements with different enterprises, both national and European, that are involved in the sector. Of the many lines of research that he has participated in, the most important are the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV), Haemophilus parasuis, the Aujeszky Disease Virus (ADV), the Hepatitis E Virus (HEV), and diseases associated with Porcine Circovirus 2 (PCV2). It is also worth mentioning that Dr. Segalés participated in the first identification in Spain of the Post-weaning Multi-System Wasting Syndrome or Porcine Circovirus in 1997 and of the Porcine Dermatitis and Nephropathy Syndrome in 1996. As a result of these investigations he is the co-author of more than 90 articles published in international scientific journals, as well as being co-author of five chapters of books with international prestige of which perhaps the most important is Porcine circovirus diseases in the 9th edition of the book Diseases of Swine. He is also the co-author of a book on swine livestock necropsy as well as three books on clinical cases in swine.
Dr. Segalés has also participated in the Pathologic Diagnosis Service at the Veterinary Faculty of the UAB since 1996, being responsible for porcine anatomo-pathology diagnosis since 1999, dedicating his time almost exclusively to this species.
Prevention and control of porcine circovirus[Circovirus]Joaquim Segalés![]() We may have some highly efficient vaccines, but we shouldn’t forget that for their application we must obtain good diagnostic information, and that in all cases we should not lose sight of good management and a good control of the concomitant diseases. |
Risk and/or triggering factors of porcine circovirus[Circovirus]Joaquim Segalés![]() Between 1995 and 1997, at the beginning of an epizootic called “maladie de l’amagrissement du porcelet” (MAP), it was observed that the farms that were most affected and that had the most losses, generally presented obvious deviations from what we would consider to be a suitable management of the animals and facilities. This is why Dr. François Madec made a list of management practices with the aim of improving the anomalous situation observed. |
Immunology against PCV2: What difference is there between a subclinically affected animal and an animal with porcine circovirus?[Circovirus]Joaquim Segalés![]() Pigs that are not affected by the disease tend to have a quantity of sero-neutralizing (and also total) antibodies against PCV2, which is significantly greater than those that cause disease |
Diagnosis of porcine circovirus: individual and farm criteria[Circovirus]Joaquim Segalés![]() The aim of this article is to discuss those differentiating topics which are relevant from a practical point of view and which in some way elude the disease's definition. |
Clinical signs and autopsy findings: can porcine circovirus be diagnosed on the farm?[Circovirus]Joaquim Segalés![]() The autopsy is always an important diagnostic element for the majority of diseases, and this is the same for porcine circovirosis. |
Epidemiology and transmission of PCV2 and of porcine circovirus[Circovirus]Joaquim Segalés![]() It is assumed that the most probable route of PCV2 transmission is the oronasal tract, which would indicate that horizontal transmission (sow-piglet or piglet-piglet) is a frequent or very frequent occurence |
Etiology: porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2)... where is “agent X”?[Circovirus]Joaquim Segalés Porcine circovirus type 2 is a viral agent with a relatively simple structural organization of which there are two distinct genotypes (1 and 2), it is not clear if they have similar virulence. Since some years ago there has been a hypothesis developing that there exists an “agent X” that would play a role as a trigger factor of the disease in 100% of cases. |