Veterinary Services

Post-weaning multi-systemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) was confirmed in twelve-week-old grower pigs from a small unit where poor growth rates and diarrhoea were reported. No porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2) vaccines had been used in this unit.

Meningitis and septicaemia in pigs ranging from three to five months of age were diagnosed in seven units associated with streptococcal infections. Streptococcus suis serotype 2 was isolated from five of the seven units while Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp equisimilis was isolated from three units. Other organisms including Streptococcus suis serotype 22 and Pasteurella multocida were isolated from pleurisy and/or pneumonia lesions that were also present in some cases.

Five ten-week-old pigs were submitted from a unit where pigs were either found dead or recumbent and shaking. The causes of death included intestinal torsion, anal stricture or meningitis associated with Streptococcus suis serotype 2. However, three of the pigs had swollen costochrondral junctions and histopathological examination showed changes consistent with subclinical rickets. 

Alimentary tract disorders

Acute enteritis associated with Clostridium perfringens type A was diagnosed in a two-day-old piglet from an outdoor unit. Scouring and deaths were reported amongst outdoor-born piglets with litters of gilts most affected. Mortality of up to 50 per cent was recorded. At necropsy there was generalised congestion of the organs. The stomach contained a significant amount of clotted milk, a section of the duodenum was haemorrhagic and the mucosa appeared necrotic.  Distal to this the small intestine was distended by blood-tinged fluid contents. The diagnosis was confirmed by microscopic examination and the presence of clostridial alpha toxin in the intestinal contents.

Swine dysentery was confirmed in a batch of eight-week-old pigs which also had exudative epidermitis associated with Staphylococcus hyicus infection.

Respiratory tract diseases

Severe lungworm infestation due to Metastrongylus apri was diagnosed in a batch of three month old Gloucester old spot piglets that were being reared at grass in an organic unit. The piglets showed signs of respiratory distress before death. The lungs were almost completely consolidated and the lesions were complicated by infection with Pasteurella multocida. The piglets also had ‘white spot livers’ associated with Ascaris sum infestation.

Lungs were submitted from a six-month-old boar from a unit  that had broken down with enzootic pneumonia three weeks previously and was experiencing an increase in mortality rate. There was a severe septic pneumonia and pleurisy with generalised abscessation affecting all lobes of the lungs. A profuse mixed growth of Streptococcus suis serotype 7, Pasteurella multocida and Arcanobacterium pyogenes was isolated in culture.

A case of sudden death in an adult boar was attributed to a bi-lobed polyp attached to the pharyngeal/oesophageal wall at the level of the larynx. The polyp was mobile on its stalk and had obstructed the larynx resulting in asphyxia and death. The polyp was a benign fibroma.

Locomotor diseases

Acute synovitis associated with Mycoplasma hyosynoviae was diagnosed in two finishing pigs. They were submitted for postmortem examination due to an increased incidence of lameness within the group.  The stifle joints contained an increased volume of bloody fluid and the synovial membranes were inflamed. Staphylococcus aureus was also isolated from one of the joints.