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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.
Early postnatal morbidity and mortality are significant challenges to the swine industry. While piglets are exposed to many stressors soon after birth, gastrointestinal maladies are among the most severe. The neonatal intestine is instantly forced from being essentially inactive prior to birth to being the major "supply organ" responsible for providing nutrients to the piglet, which is born with very limited reserves. In addition to the required dramatic increase in function, the intestine...
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The Philippines has asked the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for help in stopping the spread of Ebola-Reston virus after an infection was found in some hog farms early this year, an official said last Wednesday.
The agriculture department has sent requests to the FAO to test an initial 10,000 swine in two quarantined hog farms in northern Luzon island, Davinio Catbagan, director of bureau of animal and industry, said in a statement.
"We would like to...
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Diet can have a major influence on animal health. This impact can be beneficial or harmful if it leads to a proliferation of pathogenic bacteria. Dietary fibre (DF) is a component of the diet that can have a major impact on gut health. DF is not readily digested by young pigs and forms the main substrate for bacterial fermentation in the intestinal tract. Various components in DF can either improve gut health or alternatively irritate the gut and cause diarrhea as a result. Thus, it is...
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Different indigestible carbohydrates are used as substrates by health-promoting bacteria such as Lactobacilli in the pig gastrointestinal tract. Some specialty hulless barleys contain high amounts of these indigestible carbohydrates. An experiment aimed at evaluating the possibility to use hulless barleys as a health-promoting factor in swine nutrition. Hulless barleys were better digested than hulled barleys and oats, used as references. Their presence in the gut also generated the production...
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The decision to treat a group of animals with water-soluble antibiotics is an everyday occurrence in pig production throughout the world. If there is a concern that a disease may be threatening the group, the veterinarian and producer need a way that all of the pigs can be treated easily. The obvious appeal of a water-based approach to treatment is that a single herds-person can treat a large group of animals at one time. The label instructions on most water-soluble antibiotic products...
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Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is a small, circular, single-stranded DNA virus that affects pigs worldwide and is economically important to the swine industry. Within the past 3 years, North America has seen a marked increase and wide dissemination of PCV2-associated disease (PCVAD) that has resulted in devastating production losses. The rapid spread of PCVAD raised important questions about transmission of PCV2 amongst swine populations and regions. To date, transmission of PCV2 is not well...
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Effect of Sc 47 yeast probiotic yeast on the performance and hindgut microbiota composition of weanling pigs
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Recent media reports on the case of two piggery workers contracting the pig-borne disease Streptococcus suis ( S.suis ) pose little need for concern according to the pork peak industry body, Australian Pork Limited (APL). The case, reported in several media outlets over the past few days, details two piggery workers treated in the Canberra Hospital. The consulting physician, Dr Karina Kennedy, has published her findings in the Medical Journal of Australia ,...
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Summer = danger! High temperature often lead to digestive upset in pigs, and farmers often experience higher sudden death loss in fattening pigs, making preventive measures an economic necessity. Sudden death, or HBS (hemorrhagic bowel syndrome) Hemorrhagic bowel syndrome (HBS) causes the sudden death of 4-6 months-old fattening pigs (70-120 Kg). Usually, there is no clinical or pathological previous history, and no premonitory signs that could alert the...
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Cysticercosis is an infection caused by the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium . This parasite is found worldwide and is common in countries where raw or undercooked pork is eaten. Although incidences of infection are extremely rare in Canadian and American swine herds, over 1,000 human cases of cysticercosis are reported annually in the United States. Many of these human cases result after travel outside Canada and the United States. Life Cycle...
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Estimates of the economic impact of specific diseases on the U.S. swine industry are available for very few diseases. Recent research estimated the annual cost of PRRS in the U.S. to be approximately $560 million. 1 However, more comprehensive estimates of the impact of all major health challenges have not been published . A comprehensive estimate of all major swine health challenges is needed to facilitate industry benchmarking and to help guide animal health related...
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USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) renewed funding today for the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP). The agency will invest $4.8 million over the next four years to reduce animal suffering and decrease economic losses from PRRS, which affects 60 percent of U.S. swine herds and costs the swine industry $580 million annually. "A new strain of highly pathogenic PRRS has been found in China...
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An Epidemic of Emerging Diseases? Variability in disease patterns is an inherent feature of the "world of living things". From the biblical plagues to today's airport literature foretelling the next pandemic, we intuitively appreciate that the occurrence of diseases in plants and animals can fluctuate abruptly. Emerging diseases are defined as diseases that "have newly appeared in a population, or are rapidly increasing in incidence or geographic range" (Morse...
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Weanling pigs are vulnerable to disease because their immune systems are not fully functional. The challenge is to protect these baby pigs against antigens in the environment and to determine the best time to wean them. T lymphocytes are often used to measure strength of immunity, as are the many kinds of blood mononuclear cells such as CD2, CD4, and CD8 cells. One study (Brown et al., 2002) was designed to determine the effects on T lymphocytes of weaning piglets into on-site and...
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Lice and mange mites are two common external parasites found on swine. Mange and lice infestations are increasing as confinement rearing increases, particularly mange. The crowding of animals promotes easier transmission. Hog lice are nearly 1/4-inch long and large enough to be easily seen with the naked eye. They are often overlooked, however, because of the slate blue color which may resemble the skin of the hog. Lice are first noticed in small clumps inside the ears...
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MJ Biologics, in conjunction with the University of Minnesota, announces a breakthrough in the control and prevention of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome disease (PRRS), a devastating disease of pigs worldwide. Research conducted by MJ Biologics and the University has led to the decoding of the PRRS virus and the development of a new inactivated subunit vaccine. Patent-pending Selectigen MJPRRS™ technology now offers veterinarians and swine producers a new tool in the...
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Internal parasites include various types of internal worms that can naturally infect pigs due to oral ingestion of worm eggs from the pig's environment (pen floors, dirt lots, deep bedding, etc.). Once ingested, internal parasites go through several life-cycle changes as they mature. They compete with the pig for nutrients and may cause tissue damage. Pigs that are heavily infested with internal parasites grow slower and are less resistant to disease and stress. In some cases liver damage due...
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Effect of Sc 47 yeast probiotic yeast on the performance and hindgut microbiota composition of weanling pigs
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At the 2nd Annual London Swine Conference, Dr. Gary Dial spoke eloquently about the costs, consequences and control of endemic diseases in the swine industry. He believes that "we have entered a stage in the competitive evolution of the pork industry when we are being forced to consider any technology promising an advantage either in terms of cost management or revenue enhancement". Thankfully, genetic selection has enabled the industry to take advantage of recent, promising...
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International Collaboration to Discuss Lameness Identification and Prevention Zinpro Corporation has announced the world’s first symposium on sow lameness will take place in Minneapolis, Minn., on April 2-4, 2008. The three-day event, hosted by Zinpro, will bring together leading swine researchers, veterinarians, nutritionists and animal scientists from around the globe, including members of the FeetFirst™ ...
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Several trials in Kansas have demonstrated that circovirus vaccination improves the performance of growing pigs even on high health farms. On a 300 sow, PRRS negative farm with a history of PCVAD, 235 animals were vaccinated with a porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) vaccine at three and six weeks of age. They were housed in the same pens as 250 control (non-vaccinated) animals. Mortality rate and growth rate were significantly better in vaccinated pigs. In the wean to finish stage, the...
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A pig virus that exists worldwide has become more dangerous as the virus has mutated and then combined with other pathogens, according to Purdue University researchers. It's not known why a virus that has been known to infect swine for almost 40 years in North America suddenly started causing disease in young pigs in 1991 and then began mutating into more deadly forms. Evidence from research being conducted at the Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory on the Purdue campus has...
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