Machine Learning-Based Detection of Pig Coughs and Their Association with Respiratory Diseases in Fattening Pigs
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Respiratory infections are a major concern in pig farming as they negatively impact animal health and productivity. Coughing is a key symptom of respiratory disease and can be classified as productive or non-productive, but human assessment often leads to inconsistencies. This study aimed to use a machine learning model to classify pig coughs and investigate their association with respiratory infections. Cough sounds from 49 fat-tening pigs were recorded and analyzed using a Python-based machine learning system. The model’s accuracy in detecting coughs was 0.72, compared to 0.69 for farmers. For classification of non-productive coughs, the machine learning results showed strong agreement with infection status by Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, with Spearman’s corre-lation of 0.80 and Cohen’s Kappa of 0.79. However, the association with Porcine Circovirus type 2 was weak, with correlation and Kappa values of 0.05 and 0.037, respectively. These findings indicate that machine learning can classify pig coughs more accurately than human evaluators and that non-productive coughs are strongly linked to Mycoplasma infection but not to PCV2. This suggests the potential use of machine learning for more reliable disease monitoring and early detection in swine production.
Source: Veterinary Sciences
Institutions: Chiang Mai University, Department of Livestock Development
Language: English
Topic: Smart Agriculture and AI
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,534
OpenAlex ID: W4413640829