How Long Does It Take for Swine Foot-and-Mouth Disease to Heal? Detailed Explanation of Symptoms, Treatment and Prevention Measures
The News Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced on June 27 that one outbreak of porcine type O foot-and-mouth disease each occurred in Xinping Yi and Dai Autonomous County, Yunnan, and Gangnan District, Guangxi. After the outbreaks, Yunnan and Guangxi carried out comprehensive screening and emergency monitoring around the areas of origin, and effectively carried out livestock immunization and disinfection to eliminate sources of the disease. So what symptoms do pigs show when they contract foot-and-mouth disease? How is it treated? How long does it generally take to heal?
In 2018, due to the sluggish pig price market and the impact of environmental protection demolitions, the movement of people and pigs was relatively large, and some pig farmers relaxed their disease prevention and control efforts. Therefore, in this critical period, pig farms should strengthen disease prevention and control management.
Main clinical symptoms of porcine type O foot-and-mouth disease
Epidemiological characteristics:
The MYA98 lineage virus is highly contagious, has a wide host range, and spreads quickly.
Main clinical symptoms:
Affected pigs develop blisters and ulcers (eroded patches) on the oral mucosa, tongue surface, nasal plate, hoof cleft, coronary band and teats. The mortality rate of young animals is relatively high, mainly manifesting as myocarditis and tiger-striped heart.
How is foot-and-mouth disease treated in pigs?
1. First, strengthen feeding management. In winter, bedding straw is laid in pig houses for warmth and moisture protection, and the straw must be changed frequently. There are many bacteria and viruses in winter, so pig houses and utensils must be disinfected regularly.
2. Select the foot-and-mouth disease virus serotype prevalent in the local area for vaccination.
3. Clean the ulcerated areas with 0.5% potassium permanganate, then apply iodine glycerin, or spray the wounds with iodine tincture.
4. For severely affected pigs with persistent high fever, aminopyrine + cephalosporin can be injected to reduce fever, and 0.15 ml of No. 5 Special Agent per kg of body weight can be injected for the treatment of foot-and-mouth disease.
5. Some affected pigs may have myocarditis, so injections should be minimized. Therefore, for pigs with mild symptoms, drugs such as Huanglian Jiedu San and amoxicillin can be added to the feed for treatment. After pigs become ill, their feed intake decreases, so glucose and vitamins can be added to drinking water for energy supplementation.
How long does porcine foot-and-mouth disease generally take to heal?
Porcine foot-and-mouth disease generally follows a benign course and can heal on its own in about one week; if there are lesions on the hooves, it may be prolonged to 2—3 weeks or longer; the mortality rate is 1%-2%, and this disease type is called benign.
Prevention and control strategies for porcine type O foot-and-mouth disease
Prevention and control countermeasures:
1. Immunoprophylaxis is the core. On the one hand, vaccine immunization can enhance the animal body's ability to resist the disease; on the other hand, it can reduce or alleviate the prevalence and intensity of the disease. According to tests by the National Foot-and-Mouth Disease Reference Laboratory, all foot-and-mouth disease vaccines currently procured through Chinese government bidding provide protection against the MYA98 lineage virus. To obtain good protective effects, considering the response characteristics of pigs to foot-and-mouth disease vaccines, it is recommended that under current circumstances, farms (households) strengthen immunization once for all pigs. For fattening pigs, add one additional immunization, that is, primary immunization at 30-35 days of age, second immunization at 70-75 days of age, and third immunization at 90-100 days of age, so as to obtain better protective effects.
2. Eliminate the source of infection. Compulsory slaughter of diseased animals, animals in the same group and livestock that may be infected, and adopt harmless treatment measures such as deep burial and incineration, and thoroughly disinfect contaminated pig houses, items and the environment to quickly eliminate the source of infection. This is key.
3. Strictly control the movement of epidemic sources. Restricting the movement of livestock and their products and other contaminated materials and cutting off transmission routes are effective measures to avoid the spread of the epidemic.
4. Strengthen monitoring. Strengthen epidemic monitoring and epidemiological investigation, promptly discover hidden epidemic risks, and reduce the risk of disease occurrence.
Prevention and control measures:
Do a good job in daily prevention work: The key to reducing the occurrence of porcine foot-and-mouth disease lies in prevention. The main measures to be taken are as follows:
Disinfection. Disinfection is the focus of daily prevention work. Choose disinfectants to which foot-and-mouth disease is sensitive. During peak seasons, use disinfectants once a day for disinfection; at other times, disinfect 1-2 times a week. The scope of disinfection includes the pig farm gate, pig pen entrances, pig hooves, etc. It is best to set up a disinfection pool at the pig pen entrance for convenient disinfection.
Foot-and-mouth disease vaccination. Relevant departments should strengthen publicity for porcine foot-and-mouth disease vaccination and guide farmers to choose the correct vaccine for inoculation.
Specifically, the following four points should be done well:
First, for epidemic areas, self-made convalescent serum can be used to inoculate piglets to prevent piglets from dying from sudden acute myocarditis.
Second, for large-scale farms, measures such as vaccine injection, disinfection, and timely isolation of diseased pigs should be taken, especially during peak seasons. Once foot-and-mouth disease occurs, diseased pigs must be isolated immediately, pigs with severe conditions and strong infectivity must be culled, and convalescent serum must be injected.
Third, strictly follow the immunization program. Formulate a reasonable immunization program and strictly implement it according to the incidence characteristics, pathology, symptoms, etc. of porcine foot-and-mouth disease. Generally speaking, breeding sows must be immunized 2-3 times a year, and must be immunized once before mating; for first-litter sows, immunization must be carried out 2 times during the mating period, with the two immunizations about 1 month apart. For piglets, the first immunization should be carried out between 55-65 days after birth, followed by a second immunization within 25-30 days.
Fourth, choose highly effective and correct vaccines. Synthetic peptide vaccines can be used, and astragalus polysaccharide should be supplemented during vaccination, which can not only protect pigs and reduce adverse reactions, but also improve the immune effect.
Purification of epidemic areas: If foot-and-mouth disease occurs, disinfection, blockade, reporting and other work must be carried out comprehensively and promptly throughout the epidemic area, striving to minimize the losses caused by the epidemic.
One outbreak of porcine type O foot-and-mouth disease each occurred in Yunnan and Guangxi
On June 10, a batch of pigs being transported from Xinping Yi and Dai Autonomous County, Yuxi City, Yunnan, to Chongqing was found with suspected foot-and-mouth disease symptoms at the Anwen designated road checkpoint animal health inspection station in Qijiang District, Chongqing. 3 pigs were affected and 1 died. On June 10, the Chongqing Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center diagnosed it as a suspected foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. On June 27, it was confirmed by the National Foot-and-Mouth Disease Reference Laboratory that the outbreak was a type O foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.
On June 10, a batch of pigs being transported from Gangnan District, Guigang City, Guangxi, to Chongqing was found with suspected foot-and-mouth disease symptoms at the Anwen designated road checkpoint animal health inspection station in Qijiang District, Chongqing. 2 pigs were affected and 1 died. On June 10, the Chongqing Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center diagnosed it as a suspected foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. On June 27, it was confirmed by the National Foot-and-Mouth Disease Reference Laboratory that the outbreak was a type O foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.
After the outbreaks, Chongqing, in accordance with relevant contingency plans and technical prevention and control specifications, effectively carried out epidemic disposal work, and has culled 171 affected pigs and pigs in the same group. All dead and culled pigs have been subjected to harmless treatment. Yunnan and Guangxi carried out comprehensive screening and emergency monitoring around the areas of origin, and effectively carried out livestock immunization and disinfection to eliminate sources of the disease. At present, the outbreaks have been effectively controlled.