What are the common diseases of pigs in summer? Detailed explanation of prevention and treatment methods
In summer, temperatures are high and humidity is great, making many viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases of pigs prone to occur and spread, posing a great threat to the pig farming industry. Besides swine fever, swine influenza, piglet paratyphoid, haemophilus disease and diarrhea, in recent years streptococcosis, eperythrozoonosis and toxoplasmosis have also become prevalent, and pig farmers must pay great attention to them.
Causes:
Improper feeding and management. For pigs raised in open or semi-open pig houses, excessively hot ambient temperatures easily cause stress in pigs and disturb the normal metabolism of the body. In closed pig houses, poor ventilation often causes harmful gases to seriously exceed standards. If humidity is high, it favors the reproduction of pathogenic microorganisms, creating conditions for the outbreak of disease.
Poor feed quality. For example, feeding moldy and spoiled feed allows various pathogenic microorganisms to take advantage of the weakened state. High temperatures, high humidity and sudden weather changes. These factors favor the breeding and reproduction of pathogens and become important triggers for the prevalence of pig diseases in summer, and some of these diseases are induced and secondarily infected after the body's resistance declines during a chill and cold. In summer, blood-sucking insects such as mosquitoes, flies and midges promote the occurrence and spread of pig diseases. It is very common in rural household pig farms not to install gauze screens to prevent mosquitoes, flies and midges.
High temperatures, high humidity and rapid weather changes. These factors favor the breeding and reproduction of pathogens and become important triggers for the prevalence of pig diseases in summer.
In summer, insects such as mosquitoes, flies and midges promote the occurrence and spread of pig diseases. It is very common in rural pig houses not to install gauze screens to prevent mosquitoes, flies and midges.
Swine streptococcosis. It often occurs secondarily after pigs catch a cold and run a fever. In acute cases, the pig's body temperature rises above 41°C, with reduced feeding or cessation of feeding, conjunctival flushing and a runny nose. Some affected pigs develop arthritis, lameness, and symptoms such as crawling or being unable to stand. Piglets within 8 weeks of age often die within two days, and in chronic cases pigs often develop round, light rose-colored, coin-sized papules on the skin of the head, chest, abdomen and inner thighs, which are later covered with brown scabs. When there is mixed infection with swine fever, affected pigs have a serous nasal discharge, and purple-red or blue-purple bleeding points and bleeding patches on the ear tips, under the abdomen, at the ends of the limbs and on the inner thighs. In affected boars, urine may accumulate in the prepuce, and squeezing causes a white, turbid, foul-smelling liquid to flow out. Affected pigs alternately show constipation and then diarrhea, and in the later stage have difficulty breathing, often dying in 1 to 3 days.
In recent years, the pathogen of this disease has developed resistance to many antibiotics, increasing the difficulty of clinical treatment. However, if potent amoxicillin is injected intramuscularly (15 mg per kg of body weight) and 2.5% enrofloxacin injection (2.5 mg per kg of body weight) once a day for 3 consecutive days, the condition will be effectively controlled. When there is mixed infection with swine fever, the whole herd must also be urgently vaccinated with lapinized attenuated swine fever vaccine.
Swine eperythrozoonosis. Its typical clinical symptoms are decreased reproductive performance in sows, poorer physique in piglets, anemia, and increased intestinal and respiratory infections. In the early stage of the disease in fattening pigs, they are listless, body temperature rises to 39.5°C-42°C, they tremble and circle or are unwilling to stand, lie down away from the group, and develop constipation or diarrhea. The skin on the ears, under the neck, on the chest, under the abdomen and on the inner sides of the limbs of affected pigs becomes red-purple and does not fade when pressed with a finger, making them “red-skinned pigs”. Although there are many drugs for treating this disease, few are truly effective. Blood worm purifier, imidocarb, neoarsphenamine combined with tetracycline, oxytetracycline and the like can be selected for treatment.
Swine toxoplasmosis. The clinical manifestations resemble influenza, with body temperature rising to 40.5°C-42°C, continued fever, and signs of difficulty breathing with abdominal breathing, coughing, runny nose, pain and stiffness of the muscles of the limbs and whole body, and large areas of red-purple color on the inner sides of the limbs and under the abdominal skin. The superficial lymph nodes are enlarged, and treatment with sulfonamide drugs such as sulfa-6-methoxypyrimidine and sulfadiazine plus trimethoprim is effective.
Comprehensive prevention and control measures. First, strengthen feeding and management, pay attention to heatstroke prevention and cooling, improve environmental sanitation, and regularly disinfect the environment and equipment. Second, pay attention to eliminating blood-sucking insects. In addition to using drugs to repel and kill them, gauze screens can be installed in pig houses, which can effectively prevent bites by mosquitoes, flies and midges and reduce the occurrence and spread of disease. Third, after pigs become ill, the cause should be identified promptly and treatment should be given as early as possible, and dead pigs should be buried deeply or incinerated.