Quarterly Surveillance Report Pigs: Vol.11 No.3 July-September 2007 Published November 2007 Contents HIGHLIGHTS NOTIFIABLE DISEASES ZOONOSES & FOOD SAFETY OVERVIEW OF PIG INDUSTRY SCANNING SURVEILLANCE FOR NEW & EMERGING DISEASES HIGHLIGHTS OF ENDEMIC DISEASE PUBLICATIONS

HIGHLIGHTS

No notifiable diseases of pigs were recorded in the third quarter of this year.

No food safety incidents concerning pigs were recorded in the third quarter this year.

Salmonellosis remains the most significant potential zoonosis. Salmonella submissions and isolations were much reduced this quarter when compared with the same quarter of 2006. Salmonella enterica enterica Typhimurium U288 (75%) predominates with DT193 (25%). Others were not isolated this quarter.

The demand for ZAP visits was much reduced in this period.

Streptococcus suis type 2 still accounts for many of the isolates serotyped this quarter. No zoonotic incidents were recorded.

VTEC O157 was not found in any of the pig submissions of the enhanced E.coli surveillance.

HIGHLIGHTS OF ENDEMIC DISEASE SURVEILLANCE

Analysis of the submissions without a diagnosis did not indicate the emergence of a novel pig disease during the first quarter of 2007.

No new and emerging diseases or recrudescence of old disease has occurred in pigs. No new strains of avian and/or swine influenza have been seen and in this third quarter and few isolations of viruses were made.

PRRS and PMWS/PCV2 continue to be the main causes of pig morbidity and mortality.

Reproductive failure and myocarditis are still not a large problem with PCV2.

HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE THIRD QUARTER OF 2007

SALMONELLAS AND SALMONELLOSIS: Salmonellosis continues to be a relatively rare occurrence in pigs. Isolation of salmonellae particularly S. Typhimurium continues to be a common occurrence.

PIG RELATED QUARTERLY SUBMISSIONS, MAIN CLINICAL SIGNS: There were as usual for the last few years being related to wasting, diarrhoea in its various forms and the occurrence of coughing or dyspnoea.

DIAGNOSIS NOT REACHED (DNR): For the first nine months, the overall diagnosis not reached was 18.9%.

PMWS: The condition continues to be less important as the clinical effects are reduced with careful attention to the use of alternative boars and crosses particularly involving the Pietrain.

Field observations in the UK suggest that the disease has been much reduced by recent attention to breeding particularly with removal of the terminal Large White sire. Those users who have tried the Merial vaccine in sows have been impressed with its performance.

PRRS: The overall summary is that there is much more diversity now than there was at the start of the outbreak 15 years ago. Many of the new strains are similar to vaccine strains. We do not know the ability of the commercial vaccine strains to protect against the myriad of new strains. It is still difficult to isolate a strain from a single pig and multiple samples are necessary.

RESPIRATORY DISEASE: Nothing has changed in the rest of the respiratory disease field (except for PRRS and PCV2) certainly from the gross and microscopic point of view.

Actinobacillus porcitonsillarum has not yet been isolated as yet in the UK. P. urae has not been isolated from any further abortion cases.

SWINE INFLUENZA: There are no new indications of new influenza strains in pigs.

REPRODUCTIVE DISEASE: In this third quarter of 2007 few problems were encountered. Except there was believed to be the usual seasonal increase associated with seasonal infertility PRRS infection was reported in the form of sow deaths, reproductive failure and poor fertility.

ALIMENTARY DISEASE: No new patterns of disease were seen.

MYCOPLASMAS: Ten samples from nine cases were submitted to the group. M.hyorhinis was detected five times from lungs. Acholeplasma laidlawii was detected from one pooled sample of lung, liver and kidney. Nine blood samples and one fibrin clot were submitted specifically for the detection and identification of the unculturable organism M. suis (formerly Eperythrozoon suis), but no Mycoplasma species were detected in them.

PIG-RELATED QUARTERLY SUBMISSIONS: (Provisional third quarter 2007 data)

The third quarter of 2007 showed no significant changes compared with the previous quarters. The number of carcases was raised. Hopefully, this is a reflection of the continual pressure on practitioners to send carcases and not bits of viscera as the results are much more useful.

Analysis of ‘main clinical sign’ reported with diagnostic submissions did not indicate any major changes during this third quarter compared with the average for the whole of 2006.

Differential diagnosis of PMWS and/or ileitis was one of the most common reasons for submissions.

Further Reading

- You can view the full report by clicking here.

November 2007