GI disease in pigs Flashcards
What GI diseases are pre-weaning pigs most prone to develop? Where would they have gotten it from?
- rotavirus
- C. perfrigens
- coccidiosis
- e. coli
- PCV-2 and PRRS
Most likely from the sow
WHat GI diseases are nursery and finisher pigs most prone to?
- salmonella
- ileitis (lawsonia intracellularis)
- brachyspira pilisicoli and hyodysenteriae
- PCV-2 and PRRS
What signs are linked to watery scour and sloppy loose stools?
Watery Scour
* Can be difficult to detect esp on straw
* Generally sickly-sweet smell
* Sticky, dirty skins
* Perineal staining
* Look for evidence on pen walls
* Often yellow in colour
* Associated fading
Sloppy Looseness
* Can be hard to spot on straw
* Are straw beds harder to maintain?
* Generally, no smell
* Usually green, brown, black
* Check carefully for signs of blood or mucus
What damage to the GI tract does coccidiosis cause? Which strain affects pigs? What signs are associated? What is the prognosis?
- Damage caused to SI wall
- Cystoisospora suis
- Secondary bacterial infection
- Dehydration is common
- Varies in consistency and colour
- Yellow/grey/green/bloody
- Secondary infection can = high mortality
- Mortality due to cocci low
What signs are associated to rotavirus infections?
- Very high morbidity low
mortality - Severe rapid fading
- Long recovery period
- Scour caused by gut
damage - Huddling often a feature
- Secondary bacterial infection common
What signs are associated to E.coli infections in pigs? How can it be prevented?
- Watery gut contents
- Death due to dehydration
- Can be resistant to antibiotics
- Pre-weaning disease can be controlled by sow vaccination
- Post-weaning vaccination possible
What 2 strains of clostridria affect pre-weaning pigs? How do they both affect pigs?
Type C
* Peracute necrotic haemorrhagic enteritis
* Death before scour
* First 24-48 hours of life
* Sows faeces or soil
Type A
* Day 1 to weaning
* Pasty scour
* Clinically same as Rotavirus, Ecoli, Cocci
* Low mortality high morbidity
* Coinfection
* Can be commensal
* Histopath useful
What is the most common trigger for salmonella in pigs?
Stress of weaning
What clinical signs are associated with lawsonia intracellularis?
- Thickening and inflammation of the ileum (small intestine)
- Causes sloppy looseness and poor growth due to reduced absorption
- Can be a cause of sudden death in usually finisher / young adult pigs
What 2 brachyspira strains affect pigs? Do they have different consequences?
Brachyspira pilisicoli
* Spirochaetal colitis
* Far milder than swine dysentery
* Causes sloppy looseness and slow growth
* Often present virtually sub-clinically /
sporadically
Brachyspira hyodysenteriae
(Swine dysentery)
* Severe dysenteric colitis
* Blood and mucus in sloppy faeces due to very severe damage to colon
* Causes fading and poor growth
* Food conversion rate (FCR) unsustainable
* Very good at surviving outside of the pig
How is swine dysentery spread?
- This disease has been spread by
humans - Moving with pigs, vehicles and staff
- Spread by direct contact with
contaminated faeces
What samples can we take to identify the pathogen affecting a live pig?
- rectal swab
- faecal sample
What sampling can we undertake to identify a pathogen during a post mortem examination?
- Gross pathology can guide pathogen identification vs faecal colour and consistency
- Ideally euthanise animals early in course of disease
- Take samples for histo ASAP as gut surface starts to degrade quickly
- Target affected areas
- If only LI grossly abnormal I also submit a section of SI and vice-versa
- Gut histo very useful due to background pathogen load
- Mesenteric lymph node and gut if PCV-2 suspected
- Collect contents or swab gut wall in areas with gross pathology
- Same testing rules apply as for faecal samples
- Keep SI and LI samples separate as some pathogens site specific
What pathogens could be identified through environmental sampling?
Salmonella
Brachyspira hyodysenteriae
How do we treat e.coli, salmonella, lawsonia and brachyspira infections?
E.coli, salmonella
* Aminoglycosides
– Spectinomycin
– Streptomycin
– Neomycin
– Apramycin
– Paromomycin
* Tetracyclines
– Doxycycline – salmonella
* Fluroquinolones
– Rarely used now - CIA
* Care re resistance
Lawsonia, Brachyspira sp
* Macrolides
– Tylosin
– Tilmicosin
– Tulathromycin
* Pleuromutilins
– Tiamulin
* Lincosamide
– Lincomycin
