Core body temperature is a valuable health metric in swine, especially during viral disease outbreaks due to the increase in core temperature usually seen during the acute phase of the infection. Despite technological advances used elsewhere on the farm, rectal temperature continues to be the gold standard for measuring core body temperature in swine. However, with the industry-wide movement away from crates and small pens towards large group housing, taking rectal temperatures can range from difficult to unsafe depending on the housing system. The delay inherent to a rectal thermometer can also affect the accuracy of the reading especially if significant handling of the animal is involved as handling swine can lead to an increase in temperature solely from the stress of the interaction. Due to the inherent difficulties of collecting rectal temperatures safer temperature acquisition methods are needed, preferably ones which do not require the animals to be handled. This is especially important as minimizing handling can help reduce exposure to potential infectious agents, whether on the farm or in an experimental setting, thereby reducing the risk of interspecies and iatrogenic transmission of a given pathogen. Alternate methods have been tested in the past and show promise, but lacked repeatability and evaluated expensive methods.1,2 The goal of our study was to evaluate two minimal cost alternative methods requiring limited or no handling to determine if they have the same accuracy and precision as a digital rectal thermometer under controlled housing and husbandry conditions.
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