Porcine GI Disease

Question 1

What can cause a bacterial infection of pig GI?

Answer 1

• Lawsonia intracellularis
• Brachyspira
• Escherichia coli
• Clostridium spp.
• Salmonella enterica
• Campylobacter

Question 2

What does Lawsonia - Porcine proliferative Enteritis (PPE) affect? + What does it cause?

Answer 2

*Finisher pigs
*Causes acute bloody diarrhoea + Sudden death
* or Chronic + sub-clinical carriage

Question 3

What does PPE cause in the ileum?

Answer 3

• Proliferative lesions of enterocytes lead to ‘hose pipe-like’
  appearance of ileum with thickening of walls

Question 4

What does Haemorrhagic bowel syndrome cause? What does it affect?

Answer 4

*HBS less frequent than PPE and doesn’t cause diarrhoea
*Affects grower pigs = sudden death

Question 5

What can be seen post-mortem with haemorrhagic bowel syndrome?

Answer 5

Thinning of ileal walls with haemorrhage leading to blood filled intestines

Question 6

How does a PPE / HBS infection manifest?

Answer 6

• Infection of enterocytes causes proliferation/hyperplasia of crypt cells leading to distinct lesions

Question 7

What agent causes Porcine proliferative enteritis and haemorrhagic bowel syndrome?

Answer 7

Lawsonia intracellularis

Question 8

How is PPE + HBS diagnosed?

Answer 8

*Clinical signs
*Histopathology of lesions + presence of intracellular bacteria
*PCR to confirm Lawsonia - not campylobacter

Question 9

How is PPE + HBS controlled?

Answer 9

*Vaccine

Question 10

How is PPE + HBS treated?

Answer 10

*Antibiotics

Question 11

What does E. coli cause in pigs?

Answer 11

*Neonatal scour
*Post weaning Diarrhoea
*Oedema disease

Question 12

What is oedema disease?

Answer 12

*Affects post weaning pigs
*Shiga toxin act on blood vessels + endothelial cells
*Toxin has range of effects including neurological problems
*High mortality + rapid onset

Question 13

What are clinical signs of oedema disease?

Answer 13

*Unusual squeal
*Stupor = dull
*Ataxia
*Anorexia
*Fluid accumulation / lesions in Gut, cardio-pulmonary system, brain
*Diarrhoea = rare
*Oedema of face = common

Question 14

How is oedema disease diagnosed?

Answer 14

*Culture
*Serotyping
*ID of toxins

Question 15

How is oedema disease controlled?

Answer 15

*Good hygiene + management
*Antimicrobials
*Vaccine

Question 16

Why is control of clostridium difficult?

Answer 16

Found in normal gut flora

Question 17

What are different species of clostridium?

Answer 17

*C. perfringens
*C. difficle

Question 18

What does clostridium perfringens cause in pigs?

Answer 18

*Toxin produced causes ‘gassy’ diarrhoea + necrotic lesions
*Type A = low grade chronic diarrhoea
*Type C = early colonisation of neonatal piglets can result in acute high mortality disease

Question 19

What pig does clostridium novyi affect?

Answer 19

*Outdoor reared sows - source in soil
-causes systemic infection

Question 20

How does C. novyi cause damage in sows?

Answer 20

*Migration of bacteria from gut to liver
*Toxins produced in liver = necrotic / gangrene like lesions
*‘Aero chocolate’ liver

Question 21

How is clostridial disease diagnosed?

Answer 21

*Post mortem - gram staining of mucosal lesions

Question 22

How is clostridial disease controlled?

Answer 22

*Vaccine

Question 23

What is treatment of clostridial disease?

Answer 23

*Antibiotic therapy - no tx for Type C as irreversible once symptoms appear

Question 24

What can salmonella cause in pigs?

Answer 24

*Enteric disease
*Systemic disease
*Carried in gut + mesenteric lymph nodes = zoonotic

Question 25

What species of salmonella is a problem in pigs?

Answer 25

*S. Cholerasuis *S. Typhimurium

Question 26

What does S. Cholerasuis cause in pigs?

Answer 26

*Necrotic enteritis *Septicaemia

Question 27

How is salmonella diagnosed?

Answer 27

*Culture of faecal material *Serotyping + phage typing

Question 28

How is salmonella treated + controlled?

Answer 28

*Antimicrobials *Probiotics can reduce transmission *Good management + hygiene *VACCINE

Question 29

What species of campylobacter can cause porcine enteritis?

Answer 29

*C. coli *C. mucosalis

Question 30

What species of campylobacter can be carried without disease and be a risk to humans?

Answer 30

*C. coli *C. jejuni

Question 31

What are viral infections of pigs?

Answer 31

*Rotavirus *Coronavirus + TGE virus (TRansmissible gastroenteritiis *Porcine Circovirus

Question 32

What serogroups of rotavirus affect pigs?

Answer 32

*A, B, C, E

Question 33

How does porcine rotavirus cause infection?

Answer 33

*Virus infects intestinal epithelial cells damaging villus tips leading to enteritis + scour in piglets. *Can be a co-infection with E.coli

Question 34

How is rotavirus diagnosed?

Answer 34

*ELISA *IFAT *PCR

Question 35

What is treatment of rotavirus?

Answer 35

NO specific treatment *Dehydration = main problem

Question 36

How is rotavirus prevented?

Answer 36

*Vaccine for serogroup A *Good management + hygiene

Question 37

What does Porcine Coronavirus - porcine epidemic diarrhoea cause? (PEDV)

Answer 37

*High morbidity + mortality diarrhoea in piglets *Damage gut epithelial cells + destruct villus structure NO VACCINE OR TX

Question 38

What does transmissible gastroenteritis cause? (TGE)

Answer 38

*Very high mortality in piglets due to acute = productive diarrhoea * Diarrhoea + vomiting in older sows NO TX - vaccines available in USA

Question 39

What can Porcine Circovirus cause? (PCV)

Answer 39

*PCV 1 = avirulent *PCV 2 = Postweaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS)

Question 40

What is PMWS?

Answer 40

Postweaning Multisystemic Weaning syndrome *Occurs at 2-4 month old *Chronic wasting, diarrhoea + enteritis *Occasional skin lesions

Question 41

How is Porcine circovirus diagnosed?

Answer 41

*Clinical signs *PCR confirmation

Question 42

What is treatment of porcine circovirus?

Answer 42

NO TX *prevent other infections *Vaccines available

Question 43

What are protozoal infections of pigs?

Answer 43

*Coccidiosis - Eimeria + Isospora *Cryptosporidium

Question 44

What helminths can cause diarrhoea in pigs?

Answer 44

*Ascarids - Ascaris suum *Strongyloides in piglets *Trichuris suis