Lecture 19: Rest of Nursing Health & Nursery Pig Health

Question 1

What is Cystoisospora suis agent?

Answer 1

-Protozoal parasite, Cystoisospora suis

Question 2

What is the pathogenesis and predisposing factors of cystoisospora?

Answer 2

Pathogenesis:
-Coccidia grow in enterocytes of small intestine
-Cause milk to moderate villous atrophy
-Occytes- resistant to disinfection (hard to get rid of)

Predisposing Factors
-Cement floors (porous hard ti get rid of parasite, oocytes very sticky)
-Late summer (20-30C like temp in farrowing rooms)

Question 3

What are clinical signs of Coccidian diarrhea ?

Answer 3

-mild creamy diarrhea
-Affects older piglets at least 5 days old but usually 1-3w of age
-Slow growth, low ADG
-Poor doers, hairy (they grow thicker hair)
-high mobility but low mortality
-Most litters from all ages of sows affected

NOTE: might not see diarrhea but common complaint from farmers is pigs aren’t meeting weaning weight

Question 4

What are control methods for coccidian diarrhea?

Answer 4

-Antibiotic treatment ineffective
-No vaccine (not virus is a parasite)
-Anti-parasite medication available
-Seal floor by painting it
-All in/all out management
LONG TERM: change flooring to perforated, raised floors

Question 5

What are the common diseases in nursery pigs?

Answer 5

-Greasy pig
-Streprococcus menigitis
-Post weaning multi systemic wasting syndrome (PMWS)
-Post weaning E. coli diarrhea (PWECD)

Question 6

What are nursery pigs?

Answer 6

-Weaners- once weaned from sows they are nursery or weaner pigs
-Pigs are typically in nursery barn/room from 3weeks until 10 weeks of age (7 weeks total in the nursery)
-Target is minimum 5kg into nursery and 25kg out of nursery
-Mortality <2-3% (much lower Han pre-wean mortality)

Question 7

What are nursery pig health challenges?

Answer 7

-Stress of weaning
-Stress of mixing
-Declining immunity (passive immunity ending)
-Change in GI flora
-Dietary change

Question 8

How can we manage the stress of nursery piglet health?

Answer 8

-Requires high level of management due to young age of pigs at weaning + passive immunity declining

-Very warm, dry, clean environment
-Highly digestible feed- transition from milk-based to grain-based diet
-Special care for pigs not adapting to new environment (close eye maybe separate all smaller pigs together)

Question 9

What are feeding strategies that can be done to help nursery pig health?

Answer 9

Feeding
-Feed intake drops at weaning
-Provide small amounts frequently
-Highly digestible and palatable feed- very expensive
Place feed on board/creep feeder on floor until eating well for the first few days

Question 10

What do the environment and water have to do with nursery health?

Answer 10

Water
-Young pigs prefer bowl type drinkers
-Enough drinkers for # of pigs in pen (1/10pigs)
-Check daily to see if working

Environment
-Nursery rooms hot temp (30C) since they are very susceptible to chilling (HOT YOGA)
-Clean environment

Question 11

What are special care options for nursery pig health?

Answer 11

-Hospital/recovery pens- code of practice
-Check pigs many times per day, walk pens (making sure no pigs are recombinant)
-Sort small pigs together to reduce competition with larger pigs

Question 12

What is the Etiologic agent for greasy pig?

Answer 12

Bacteria: Staphylococcus Hyicus
-Normal flora of pig skin- secondary infection
-Normal flora develops into an infection due to some other underlying factors- an opportunist
*Pigs fighting resulting in cuts and abrasions
*High humidity in the room
-Dermatitis of young pigs- most common in nursery pigs but also possible in nursing pigs

Question 13

What are general pathogenesis for greasy pig?

Answer 13

-Abrasion occurs (cut or scratch) usually due to fighting result of mixing pigs, or fighting during nursing
-Opportunist Staph hyicus enters the body and produces a toxin (not all Staph hyicus produce toxin farm dependent)
-Infection develops (park crusty lesions beginning on face- can spread over entire body) can be localized or generalized infection

Question 14

What are prevention/control and treatment for greasy pig?

Answer 14

Prevention/control
-Clip needle teeth of newborn piglets
-Reduce fighting (min mixing, optimum stocking density)
-Reduce humidity in barn

Treatment: Injectable and topical antibiotics, some AMR has developed. NO VACCINE

Question 15

What is streptococcal meningitis and what is the etiologic agent?

Answer 15

Agent: Streptococcus suis type 2
-Normal inhabitant of respiratory and genital tract
-Lives for a long time in the environment
-Neurological disease (acute form)
-Zoonotic disease (risk to human health)

Question 16

How is Strep suis a public health concern?

Answer 16

-Rare but severe disease- ZOONOSIS
-Mostly type 2
-Meningitis, brain inflammation
-Deafness n 50-65% of meningitis cases
-20% case-fatality in 2005 Chinese outbreak
-1 case in ON in 2017
* Most patients have contact with pigs
*Entry through skin wounds
*Washing hands is effective (prevention strategies)

Question 17

What is the transmission of Strep?

Answer 17

Transition is both: Vertical and horizontal

Sow-piglet (vertical)
-Via genital tract during parturition
-Via respiratory & alimentary routes during lactation

Pig-Pig (horizontal)
-Nurseries and beyond
-Onset of disease typically 5-10woa (nursery & grower)

Question 18

What are clinical signs of strep?

Answer 18

Early signs: Head tilt, circling, trembling
Acute signs:
-Pig lying on side
-Paddling*
-Ataxia (neurological unsteadiness or walking weird)
-Convulsions*
-Found dead
*= too late for treatment

Question 19

What are prevention and treatment options for strep?

Answer 19

Prevention:
-Reduce stress (avoid over crowding, avoid frequent mixing of pigs, provide optimal ventilation, temperature
-Control other disease
-Strategic prophylaxis: medicate in feed/water during times of stress
-Vaccination- minimal effectiveness so not widely used

Treatment:
-Isolate sick pigs in hospital pen- food and water
-Injectable antibiotics- early treatment is essential
-If treatment ineffective, then euthanasia

Question 20

What is the etiologic agent for Post weaning multi systemic wasting syndrome (PMWS)?

Answer 20

Agent: Porcine circovirus Type 2 (PCV-2)
-PCV2 is ubiquitous in Canadian swine herds
-Necessary BUT INSUFFICIENT agent in PMWS
Recap:
necessary cause: without this factor disease can’t occur but the presence of a disease agent may not be sufficient to cause disease
Sufficient cause: Factors working together to produce disease, alone one factor may not be sufficient but in various combinations disease occurs

Question 21

What is the pathogenesis of PMWS?

Answer 21

Pathogenesis:
-Oro-nasal transmission (pigs-pigs)
-Largely unknown- infectious & non-infectious co-factors or triggers play a role in disease
-Immuno-suppression- reduction in lymphocytes, macrophages
*predisposes the pigs to 2 degree diseases
*Variation in lesions & clinical appearance

Question 22

What are the clinical signs of PMWS?

Answer 22

-Subclinical infection
Clinical signs:
-Wasting- weight loss/emaciation
-Enlarged lymph nodes
-Respiratory signs (coughing, rapid breathing)
-Diarrhea
-Jaundice

Question 23

What are the herd presentations of PMWS?

Answer 23

Herd presentation:
Acute- high mortality (>25-30%) & high case fatality
Endemic- sporadic mortality

Clinical sings vary: not all signs are noted in the same pig, but most are evident on an affected farm over time

Question 24

What are prevention/control strategies for PMWS?

Answer 24

-Less mixing of pigs, proper stocking density
-Adequate air & environment quality
-Proper sanitation
-Biosecurity- all-in/all-out flow in nursery
-Euthanize affected pigs
-Control other diseases (bc infectious control factors)
-Highly efficacious vaccine (VACCINATE administer at nursery arrival & again 3w later)
-If still issue after vax, investigate to see what problem is, are we having issues with management or other viral diseases

Question 25

What are clinical signs of Post-Weaning coli diarrhea (PWECD)?

Answer 25

Clinical signs:
-Pasty to watery diarrhea
-Red perineum
-Poor growth (low ADG)
-Some pigs may die suddenly before signs of diarrhea occur- purple discolouration of abdomen (sepsis)

Question 26

What are prevention strategies for PWECD?

Answer 26

Prevention:
-Warm dry pens (hot yoga room) -motility impaired
-All-in/all-out flow (clean more effectively)
- +/- acidifiers in feed/water (knowing Ecoil produces alkaline diarrhea)
- +/- other feed additives (zinc or increased fibre can help control bc Ecoli likes high fibre but also affect pig bc changing diet so be carful)
- +/- antibiotics