High Impact Diseases- piggies

Question 1

3 month old piglets that farmer says have been looking skinnier, haven’t been utilizing their feed as efficiently, have decreased coat quality, and diarrhea. What do you suspect?

Answer 1

• Porcine Circovirus associated diseases
• type two- post weaning multi systemic wasting syndrome
• porcine dermatitis and nephropathy disease complex, reproductive failure and abortion
• PCV2 increases severity of other diseases, nearly all herds in US are seropositive
• C.S.- loss of BCS, enlarged lymph nodes, unthriftiness, rough hair coat, polypnea, dyspnea, pallor, diarrhea, occasionally icteric
• if survive- stunted growth
• PDNS- red-purple blotches on skin and death
• reproductive failure
• diagnosis- microscopic lymphocytic depletion in lymph nodes, often with histolytic infiltration
• tx: all in/all out, good management, symptomatic treatment

Question 2

A farmer calls you out because his breeding sows have become anorexic, febrile, depressed, and aren’t farrowing. Other growers and finishers on the farm are showing respiratory signs. What do you suspect?

Answer 2

• Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory syndrome- economically significant disease
• persists long term in carrier pigs, infected pigs shed virus up to 60 days post infection, highly infection, not highly contagious and spreads by direct contact (aerosol?)
• in utero: piglets born anemic and persistently infected
• breeding age- reproductive (anorexia, fever, lethargy, depression, respiratory distress, vomiting, cyanosis, repro failures, bad semen quality)
• young- fever, depression, lethargy, stunting, sneezing, followed by expiratory dyspnea, increased post weaning mortality
• tx: no single successful strategy- vaccination, aggressive acclimatization of replacement of breeding stock, depopulation.