LINKS BETWEEN POST-WEANING MULTISYSTEMIC WASTING SYNDROME AND PORCINE DERMATITIS NEPHROPATHY SYNDROME
A. Gresham, G. Allan, F. McNeilly and S. Kennedy

Abstract
(Presented at Pig Veterinary Society Meeting, May, 2000)

Preface
Since this paper was presented to the Society in May 2000, an outbreak of Classical Swine Fever occurred in East Anglia in England in August 2000. The similarities of PMWS and PDNS to swine fever are of particular concern and have resulted in many reports of suspected swine fever both before and after swine fever was confirmed. It is imperative that where disease in pigs cannot be differentiated from swine fever, the suspicion of swine fever must be reported immediately to the regulatory authorities, i.e. the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. A paper by Dr Stan Done and others describing these similarities will be published shortly in "In Practice."

Abstract
Fifty-eight incidents of porcine dermatitis nephropathy syndrome (PDNS) were recorded by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) from July 1999 to the end of March 2000. This compares to an annual average of nine incidents of PDNS per year recorded by the VLA between 1993 (when PDNS was first described) and December 1998. The VLA, between January and June 1999, recorded no incidents of PDNS.

Before 1999 the mortality due to PDNS in affected herds was usually low (<1%) (White and Higgins, 1993). However, in outbreaks of PDNS which occurred in Great Britain (GB) from July 1999, the within-herd case fatality ranged from 0.25 to 20% and averaged 7 to 10%. Many such outbreaks of PDNS occurred in herds which had previously experienced outbreaks of post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). Nevertheless, some incidents had low mortality (<1%) reminiscent of the pre-1999 "sporadic" PDNS incidents.

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