Both sunstroke and heatstroke in pigs are caused by high temperatures
In the hot summer, pigs are prone to heatstroke. In fact, heatstroke is the collective term for sunstroke and heatstroke, which traditional Chinese veterinary medicine calls black-sweat wind.
Causes The causes of sunstroke and heatstroke differ, but their pathological processes cannot be completely separated. Sunstroke occurs when pigs are exposed to direct sunlight for too long, causing a rise in physiological body temperature and overheating and warming of the skin, which dilates the skin blood vessels. On the other hand, overheating of the head leads to congestion of the brain and meninges, ultimately causing disorders of the cerebral cortex regulatory function and the vital centers in pigs.
Heatstroke occurs when the outside temperature is too high or the environmental humidity rises, making it difficult for the body to dissipate heat, causing congestion of the skin blood vessels and failure of the capillary network circulation, which leads to cardiac insufficiency, passive congestion of the brain, pulmonary edema, and substantive malnutrition of the myocardium, liver and kidneys, with body temperature rising continuously and finally death. Pigs with thick coarse coats, obesity, cardiopulmonary insufficiency and poor heat adaptability are especially more prone to this disease.
Clinical symptoms The disease generally presents with sudden onset, severe course and serious symptoms. Extreme difficulty breathing, conjunctival congestion or cyanosis, unsteady walking or lying down unable to rise, profuse sweating, restlessness, foaming at the mouth, accelerated heartbeat, irregular rhythm, dilated pupils, reduced vision, body temperature as high as 41-43 degrees Celsius, and finally loss of consciousness, scanty and sticky sweat, convulsions, with most pigs dying from collapse or heart failure.
Key points of diagnosis A definite diagnosis can be made based on the medical history, external environmental conditions and clinical symptoms. However, because the disease is extremely similar to swine encephalitis and acute poisoning in its symptoms, a definite diagnosis can only be made after careful and repeated comparison.
Treatment methods After a pig develops the disease, it should be moved immediately to a cool place, and plenty of cold water should be sprayed on the head and body, or cold water enemas given. Water can also be splashed on the ground where the sick animal lies to lower the temperature and relieve symptoms such as restlessness.
1. Reduce internal heat and strengthen cardiac function. Where conditions permit, farms can administer by mouth or let the sick pig eat watermelon flesh and juice, and can also give Shidishui medicinal liquid orally, then inject subcutaneously 10% sodium camphorsulfonate or 20 milliliters of Annaka injection.
2. Carry out bloodletting and acupuncture therapy. About 300 milliliters of venous blood can first be let, then acupuncture at the Taiyang, Yutang, ear tip, tail tip and four hooves points, then intravenous injection of 1000 milliliters of normal saline.
3. Traditional Chinese medicine therapy: mainly to calm the mind and sedate, and to clear heat and detoxify. Medicinals used: honeysuckle 60 grams, forsythia 60 grams, raw gypsum 150 grams, anemarrhena 60 grams, gardenia 60 grams, licorice 30 grams, ground together into powder, taken after being mixed with boiling water or decocted in water. One can also use mosla 30 grams, forsythia 24 grams, talc 24 grams, raw rehmannia 30 grams, scrophularia, ophiopogon, scutellaria, trichosanthes root, chrysanthemum and mint 24 grams each, platycodon 18 grams, poria with hostwood 30 grams, cinnabar (wrapped separately and set aside) 9 grams. Except that the cinnabar is given first by mouth, the other medicinals are ground together into powder and, after being mixed with boiling water, given by mouth once lukewarm, or after being decocted into a liquid, given by mouth once lukewarm.
Preventive measures In hot seasons, do not exercise under the blazing sun for too long, and drink more cold water; shade nets or shade sheds should be set up over pens and exercise yards to avoid direct sunlight; pens should have good ventilation conditions to avoid creating a high-humidity, high-heat environment; when transporting pigs by vehicle or boat, take care not to overcrowd them, and drinking water must not be lacking.