Rural Pig Farming: Common Pig Diseases and Their Prevention and Treatment Methods
You often hear people say that if things don't work out in Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou, they can always just go home and raise pigs. Little do they know that pig farming is also a skilled trade, and not knowing about pig diseases can mean losing everything. What are the common types of pig diseases? How do you prevent and treat them?
1. Parasitic diseases
1. Pig roundworm disease
The pig roundworm (Ascaris suum) is a large nematode. Fresh worms are pinkish with a slight yellowish-white tint, shaped like earthworms. Infected pigs lose their appetite, appear listless, become thin and anemic, and in severe cases may show symptoms such as rapid breathing, elevated body temperature, coughing, and diarrhea. Adult pigs have relatively strong resistance, while piglets aged 3 to 6 months are most severely affected. Roundworm disease is currently the parasitic disease that causes the greatest harm to the pig farming industry.
Preventive measures:
Deworm once each in spring and autumn; deworm piglets once at weaning and once at 5 months of age; deworm sows once before pregnancy and farrowing. In summer, disinfect weekly with 3% to 5% hot alkaline water or fresh lime; in other seasons, disinfect once every other week. Pig manure and bedding straw should be transported to a site far from the pigpen for composting and fermentation, or buried in pits for retting, to kill eggs and larvae. Try not to introduce pigs from farms where pig roundworm disease has broken out; introduced pigs should be isolated and raised, with fecal egg checks. Improve feeding facilities and equipment to prevent pig manure from contaminating drinking water and feed. Provide feed rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals.
Treatment measures:
Drugs for treating pig roundworm include levamisole, albendazole, pyrantel, ivermectin, and avermectin, which can be mixed into feed or given by subcutaneous injection. Note that the dosage of drugs mixed into feed must be determined according to the instructions; do not increase the dose on your own. A certain amount of vitamins should be added when mixing drugs into feed, and the mixing should be as even as possible. It is recommended to rotate deworming drugs with different chemical structures.
2. Pig Cysticercus tenuicollis disease
Cysticercus tenuicollis is the larva of Taenia hydatigena and can infect pigs, yellow cattle, sheep, goats, and various other livestock. Piglets infected with Cysticercus tenuicollis show symptoms of weakness, emaciation, and jaundice; their growth and development are stunted, and they may even become runt pigs. Severely infected piglets may suddenly collapse and die. Adult pigs show dry, lusterless hair, weakness, and emaciation.
Preventive measures:
Management can follow that for roundworm disease, ensuring that water, feed, pig house environment, personnel, troughs, vehicles, and so on are clean and hygienic, with regular disinfection. Outsiders and cats, dogs, and other animals must be strictly prohibited from entering and leaving the farm at will. Because this parasite is quite harmful to humans, strict quarantine is required during slaughter.
Treatment measures:
For pigs, praziquantel is given orally; for dogs, praziquantel or niclosamide is given orally. In addition, surgery is also the most effective treatment method. Through surgery, the Cysticercus tenuicollis larvae parasitic in the abdominal cavity are removed, but this method has excessively high technical requirements and is not suitable for ordinary farmers.
3. Pig lungworm disease
Pig lungworm disease, also known as pig Metastrongylus disease, is caused by Metastrongylus worms parasitic in the bronchi and bronchioles of pig lungs, causing bronchitis and bronchopneumonia. It is an internal parasitic disease with endemic prevalence, and earthworms are the intermediate host of this parasite. Sick pigs are emaciated, stunted, and have rough, dull hair. In severe cases, they have difficulty breathing and gasp like a bellows, often becoming runt pigs.
Preventive measures:
Preventing piglets from eating earthworms is an important measure for preventing this disease. Wetting the pig exercise yard with 30% plant ash water can both kill eggs and prompt earthworms to crawl out to be eliminated. Remove feces promptly and carry out pile fermentation treatment in order to eliminate eggs and larvae in the feces. Deworm regularly, with piglets receiving preventive deworming once a month.
Treatment measures:
When sick pigs are found, deworm them promptly. Levamisole can be chosen as the drug, with an oral dose of 8 to 10 grams per kilogram at one time, or intramuscular injection of 5 to 7 milligrams per kilogram at one time. Ivermectin can also be injected subcutaneously at a dose of 300 micrograms per kilogram. While deworming, use penicillin and streptomycin continuously for 3 days to improve and restore the condition of lung inflammation.
4. Pig stomach worm disease
Pig stomach worm disease is caused by Ascarops strongylina, Physocephalus sexalatus, and other parasites parasitic in the pig stomach. It also shows endemic prevalence, and piglets are more susceptible than fattening pigs. In affected pigs, especially young pigs, when many parasites are present, the gastric mucosa becomes inflamed, appetite decreases, thirst increases, abdominal pain, vomiting, emaciation, and anemia occur, with symptoms of acute and chronic gastritis. Affected pigs are listless, have nutritional disorders, and their development and growth are hindered. Their feces are black or mixed with blood color.
Prevention and treatment measures:
Management is the same as for roundworm disease. In addition, do not plant white poplar near pig houses and pig grazing areas, to avoid beetles falling after feeding on leaves and being swallowed by pigs, or pigs rooting in the ground and swallowing beetle larvae (white grubs) and becoming infected. Do not let pigs go to places with intermediate hosts such as cyclops and beetles, so as to avoid infection.
Treatment measures:
Trichlorfon, 0.1 grams per kilogram of body weight mixed into feed. Ivermectin, 0.3 milligrams per kilogram of body weight by subcutaneous injection. Sodium fluoride, mixed into feed at a 1% ratio for feeding. Levamisole hydrochloride injection, 7.5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per dose, by intramuscular or subcutaneous injection, or levamisole phosphate tablets, 8 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per dose, mixed into drinking water or given orally, with another dose after 2 to 4 weeks.
2. Respiratory system diseases
1. Mycoplasma pneumonia of swine
A respiratory droplet infectious disease caused by Mycoplasma, mostly with a chronic course. The main symptoms are low, paroxysmal coughing, difficulty breathing, and panting, while body temperature is generally not high. The lesion is characterized by fused bronchopneumonia, with the apical lobes, cardiac lobes, and anterior margins of the diaphragmatic lobes showing “meat-like consolidation”.
Prevention and treatment measures:
(1) Macrolides (tylosin, tiamulin, tilmicosin, tylvalosin)
(2) Polyenes (tiamulin)
(3) Fluoroquinolones (enrofloxacin, pefloxacin)
(4) Tetracyclines (oxytetracycline hydrochloride)
(5) Lincosamides (lincomycin hydrochloride)
2. Porcine infectious pleuropneumonia
A highly contagious and lethal respiratory infectious disease of pigs caused by Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. Acute and subacute cases are mainly characterized by fibrinous hemorrhagic pleuropneumonia; chronic cases are mainly fibrinous necrotizing pleuropneumonia. Acute cases show elevated body temperature, severe difficulty breathing, cyanosis of the nose, ears, limbs, or whole body skin, and heart failure; chronic cases show paroxysmal coughing, emaciation, and so on.
Prevention and treatment measures:
(1) Florfenicol (currently the most effective drug)
(2) Cephalosporins (third and fourth generations have superior effects)
(3) Compound gentamicin
(4) Lincomycin
(5) Doxycycline hydrochloride
(6) Macrolides (tilmicosin)
3. Digestive tract diseases
1. Indigestion
The main symptoms of the disease are decreased appetite in sick pigs, listlessness, slow chewing when eating, red-yellow or yellow-white oral mucosa, and increased intestinal sounds; vomiting or retching often occurs, and more severely affected pigs may experience abdominal pain and bloating. The body temperature of sick pigs generally shows no obvious change. During diagnosis, multiple factors should be considered comprehensively to distinguish whether the indigestion is mainly in the stomach and small intestine or mainly in the large intestine. The main difference is that the former has severe bad breath and a thick tongue coating, appetite is nearly abolished, and it is accompanied by vomiting and constipation; the latter has soft or watery feces mixed with mucus, and intestinal sounds are obvious.
Preventive measures:
To prevent this disease, strengthen feeding management, rationally formulate feed, and prevent feeding moldy, spoiled, and excessively coarse and hard feed. The pig house should be kept clean, dry, and ventilated, and warmth should be maintained.
Treatment measures:
The basic principles for treating this disease are to remove the cause, improve the diet, and clear the intestines and stop fermentation. First, check whether the feed has deteriorated and examine daily feeding and management factors. At the same time, switch to feed that is relatively easy to digest and nutritionally complete, and provide sufficient drinking water. Second, for drug treatment, an appropriate amount of sodium sulfate or artificial salt can be dissolved in water and given orally to clear the gastrointestinal tract of sick pigs and stop the contents from further fermenting. Dosage: sodium sulfate or artificial salt 30 to 50 g plus an appropriate amount of water. After clearing the intestines, gastrointestinal function should be adjusted promptly. Yeast tablets 2 to 10 tablets can be mixed into feed and fed, twice daily. Traditional Chinese medicine can also be used for treatment, such as rhubarb powder 3 g, gentian powder 1 g, and artificial salt 10 g, mixed and given orally at one time, twice daily, for 3 to 5 d continuously. If the sick pig has severe diarrhea, anti-inflammatory and anti-diarrheal treatment should be carried out. Furazolidone (0.2 to 1 g) or berberine (0.2 to 0.5 g) can be given orally, twice daily. If the sick pig is dehydrated, glucose solution and compound sodium chloride solution should be used for intravenous infusion to maintain fluid balance.
2. Intestinal constipation
The main symptoms of this disease are reduced feeding or cessation of feeding in sick pigs, dry and scanty feces with mucus, blood, or shed mucosa on the surface, and palpation of the deep abdominal cavity can detect cylindrical or bead-like dry hard fecal balls. In the middle and late stages of the disease, body temperature rises, and severely affected pigs may die. At the same time, the course is relatively long, and intestinal wall necrosis may occur, which can be complicated by localized peritonitis. Systemic symptoms of the sick pig should be considered during diagnosis.
Preventive measures:
To prevent this disease, strengthen feeding management, rationally match feed, and ensure sufficient drinking water and an appropriate amount of exercise. At the same time, pay attention to the provision of green feed and the rational matching of fiber nutrition.
Treatment measures:
To treat this disease, first stop feeding or feed only a small amount of green, succulent feed, while having the pig drink a large amount of warm water. For pigs in good body condition at the early stage of disease, use sodium sulfate or magnesium sulfate 30 to 80 g, add warm water 1000 ml, and administer by gavage at one time. Also use warm water, 2% baking soda water, or soapy water for repeated deep enemas, combined with abdominal massage, which generally works. When there is severe pain and restlessness, 30% analgin 10 ml can be injected intramuscularly, or sodium chloride 5 to 10 g can be given orally. If drug treatment is ineffective, laparotomy should be performed promptly, with enterotomy or intestinal resection.