Explore all the information on
Swine health
Pig diseases can be caused by bacteria, viruses, protozoa, nutritional deficiencies, poisonous substances, internal and external parasites.
Bacterial diseases include swine erysipelas, swine dysentery, infectious poly-arthritis etc. Viral and mycoplasma diseases include African swine fever, swine influenza, enzootic pneumonia of pigs, vesicular exanthema of swine, transmissible gastroenteritis etc. Helminthiasis as a health problem in pigs is mainly caused by worms like the lungworm, ascaris worm etc. Nutritional diseases include piglet anemia, parakeratosis etc. External parasitic infections include mange, lice, jiggers etc.
How to tell that a pig is in bad health:
General signs: dullness, loss of appetite, labored or rapid breathing, sudden deaths, loss of weight, low weight gain and fever usually manifested by shivering of the pig.
Signs expressed on the skin: reddening of the skin or skin discoloration, loss of hair and hardening of some parts of the skin, itching and cracking of the skin.
Other signs: lameness, cough, abnormal nasal discharges, diarrhea with a putrid smell, abnormal content and color of feces and abortions.
Introduction: MSD-AH`s ResPig® offers the opportunity to investigate the PRRS status via cross-sectional blood sampling of gilts, sows, weaners and nursery pigs, and saliva testing (via PCR) of two animal groups every six months. PRRS PCR results of weaners can give an indication of the PRRS stability of the sow herd at the time of sampling. PCR results of the oldest nursery pigs provide information about the status of pigs entering the finishing units/farms. In addition,...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Introduction: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is considered one of the most economically important infectious diseases of swine. PRRSV is divided into European (Type I) and American (Type II) genotypes. PRRS is caused by a single stranded positive-sense RNA enveloped virus with a high mutation rate leading to greater heterogeneity of the nucleotide sequence between the individual strains. The high genetic virus diversity increases the risk of reduced...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Introduction: Chemosensing in the gut involves G protein-coupled receptors and their associated G proteins, including taste 1 receptors (T1Rs) and taste 2 receptors (T2Rs). Sweet taste is recognized by T1R2+T1R3 heterodimers and umami flavors by T1R1+T1R3 heterodimers; however, bitter perception is detected by an array of T2Rs. Advances in gastrointestinal chemosensing have uncovered mechanisms by which specific nutrient and pathogen components evoke multiple...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Introduction: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is endemic in major swine producing countries. Dual-technology (DT) vaccination programs combining modified live vaccine (MLV) and killed vaccine (KV) have gained interest in order to better control PRRSV infection and favor whole herd stabilization. A survey for PRRSV circulation in the pig flow on eight farms having implemented a DT vaccination program in sows was performed by monitoring the PRRSV...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Introduction: The commercial PRRS Oral Fluids ELISA is a highly sensitive assay, particularly when detecting PRRSV exposure through antibody monitoring in large swine populations. Prior to the launch of this commercial assay, a modified protocol was developed for oral fluids using the existing PRRSV antibody serum test (PRRS X3). Although the modified test also has excellent specificity and sensitivity, the protocol requires overnight incubation and titration of a non-standard...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Dr. Balachandar Jayaraman from Evonik explores the challenges of high-protein diets in swine and how amino acid optimization can enable sustainable protein reduction without compromising performance
...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Paul Yeske (Swine Vet Center) comments on the variants found in different regions, during this Swine It interview with host Laura Greiner....
Comments : 1
Recommendations: 0
INTRODUCTION Mycotoxins are substances that occur naturally in the environment (1, 2). In addition to mycoestrogens such as zearalenone (3, 4), selected trichothecenes, including DON and/or its metabolites (but in vitro), can affect steroidogenesis (2) and changes in gene expression, which suggests that these compounds could disrupt hormonal homeostasis (1). Deoxynivalenol (DON), a polar organic compound produced mainly by Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium culmorum (5), is...
Comments : 1
Recommendations: 0
Coccidiosis is a widespread parasitic disease that can seriously harm the livestock industry, especially affecting poultry and swine. This disease causes inflammation of the intestines, slower growth rates, and in severe cases, high mortality. In this article, we will discuss the causes, symptoms, and treatment options for...
Comments : 7
Recommendations: 4
Introduction: Introduction of gilts into a swine farm always conveys the risk of disease introduction into the recipient herd and, consequently, from a regional perspective, disease introduction into clusters of neighboring farms. In several areas in North, Central and South America, the swine industry is organized in projects of PRRS (Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome) control by regions. These projects allow for coordinated actions to control PRRS and for sharing...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of post-weaning treatment of piglets with zink oxide (ZnO) and colistin on health, production and Escherichia coli shedding. Materials and Methods: During two successive weaning rounds, a randomized control study was performed on three commercial pig herds. In each herd, four groups of weaners were created that either received colistin in the feed (CF) (Promycine® 400 IU/mg, premix,...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Introduction: In the Netherlands antibiotic use in human health care and in food-producing animals is a concern for the Dutch society and the Dutch government. The use of antibiotics is controlled by law and the consequence is a strict monitoring in the diagnostics of diseases including laboratory tests to confirm disease and treatments. The message of the Dutch government is simple: use less antibiotics in animals. In this survey, we demonstrate how in a finishing farm...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Introduction: There is a need for ante-mortem Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (Mhp) diagnostic sampling protocols to determine if populations are negative (≤1% prevalence (Pr)), remain negative over time, and to detect early infection to prevent spread. A recent study showed that increased sample size resulting from ante-mortem laryngeal swab sampling (LS) combined with pooling allowed for a higher herd detection rate by PCR while pursuing the most economical...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Introduction: Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is one of the primary pathogens involved in the Porcine Respiratory Disease Complex. Breeding sows are responsible for maintaining M. hyopneumoniae infections within the herd and young sows are more likely to transmit the pathogen to their piglets compared to older sows. Additionally, piglet colonization at weaning has been suggested as a predictor of clinical disease and lung lesions at slaughter. The aim of this...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Introduction: Porcine brucellosis, an infectious disease caused by Brucella suis biovar 1, 2, or 3, is a zoonotic disease of public health and economic concern. The infection generally manifests itself as a reproductive disease potentially leading to abortion in sows and infertility in sows and boars. In Europe, the most common agent of swine brucellosis is B. suis biovar 2 which is endemic in European wild boar and hare populations. These wild animals may...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Introduction: Coccidiosis occurs worldwide in association with intensive pig husbandry. In the intensive pig production piglets are supplemented with Iron to prevent iron deficiency anaemia. Traditional prevention of coccidiosis and iron deficiency anaemia has involved two separate intervention. Toltrazuril is well established product given orally to piglets in prepatent period to control coccidiosis and iron is supplemented traditionally by intramuscular route to young...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Introduction: The field control of animal trypanosomosis has relied over the years on two broad strategies: using chemotherapeutic agents on infected animals, and vector control. At present chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis are the only practical methods available for the control of animal trypanosomosis, but their effectiveness is being threatened by a number of factors, which include increasing parasite resistance, treatment failures and unacceptable...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Introduction: Gastrointestinal disease is one of the leading causes of clinical signs in growing and finishing pigs. We herein describe several diagnostic cases of finisher pig colitis wherein both novel and common pathogens were discovered. Materials and Methods: Necropsies of 5 pigs, 10-13 weeks of age, with diarrhea and weight loss, were performed at two swine farms, each housing > 15,000 growing pigs. Tissue samples including colon were submitted to the...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Introduction: The first outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) since 1996 in Japan was reported in October 2013. Also, in August 2014, Japan also had the first outbreak of dengue fever (DF) since 1945. A concern with these recent incidents is the risk of a decrease in pork consumption due to misinformation or exaggeration by the news media. Therefore, our objectives were to characterize PED and DF newspaper and google-searched articles, and identify important text...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0
Introduction: During an outbreak of respiratory disease, pigs suffering of severe and usually fatal respiratory distress can be observed sporadically. During necropsy, oedema and haemorrhage of the mucosa can be observed in the trachea leading to the suspicion of severe tracheitis. However, aetiology of tracheitis remains obscure in pigs. We report here a clinical case of tracheitis in finishing pigs. Materials and Methods: This study reports on a 200 sow...
Comments : 0
Recommendations: 0