Diagnosis and Treatment of Alcohol Distiller's Grains Poisoning in Pigs

He, a villager from Shilai Village, Yuping Town, fed his pigs a mixture of leftover distiller's grains from liquor production, restaurant leftovers, and some rice bran. In early August 2006, 36 pigs developed distiller's grains poisoning, 4 died, and of the remaining 32, 31 recovered after treatment, a cure rate of 96%.

Clinical symptoms: the sick pigs showed reduced or absent appetite, digestive dysfunction, rough coat, chronic emaciation, anemia, edema, labored breathing, and limb paralysis. Five severely poisoned pigs had decreased body temperature, with 1 of them below 36 degrees C. Some showed excitement, unsteady gait, mental confusion or falling down, collapse, and then lay on their sides unable to rise. Some sick pigs had abdominal pain with an arched back, diarrhea, pale or icteric conjunctiva, and hematuria.

Pathological changes: Two dead pigs were necropsied. The stomach contents had an ethanol odor, the gastric fundus was congested and hemorrhagic, and the gastric mucosa sloughed off easily; the liver margins were rounded, and the cut surface bulged outward; the gallbladder was filled with bile and enlarged about 1-fold; the endocardium and subcutaneous tissue both showed congestion and hemorrhagic spots; pulmonary edema and hemorrhage; the kidneys were swollen and pale; the mesentery and subcutaneous tissue had edema; the meningeal vessels were congested, and the brain parenchyma had hemorrhage.

Laboratory examination: Touch impression smears were collected from the cut surfaces of the spleen, hilar lymph nodes, pulmonary hilar lymph nodes, and mesenteric lymph nodes of the dead pigs, stained, and examined microscopically. The samples were inoculated, cultured, and examined microscopically, and no bacteria were found. Examination of the stomach contents revealed components such as ethanol and acetic acid.

Diagnosis: Based on the history investigation, the pig herd at this distillery had long been fed a diet mainly composed of distiller's grains. Ordinarily, occasional pigs also became ill, and died after treatment with penicillin, streptomycin, and analgin without recovery. Based on the clinical symptoms, pathological anatomical changes, and laboratory tests, the diagnosis was distiller's grains poisoning in pigs.

Prevention and control measures: (1) All pigs were temporarily stopped from being fed distiller's grains. Pigs with appetite were given 5% quicklime clarified liquid orally, about 1000 ml per pig each time, twice daily, until cured. (2) Pigs with no appetite were injected intramuscularly with 4-6 ml each of vitamin B1, B6, C, and K3 injections per pig each time, and 10 ml of 10% caffeine sodium benzoate, twice daily, until cured; at the same time, 200-300 ml of 5% sodium bicarbonate solution per pig was injected intravenously to alleviate acidosis; Chinese herbal medicine: Scutellaria baicalensis, Gentiana, mung bean, licorice, and water spinach root were decocted and administered orally. For the 5 more severely affected pigs, 800,000-1,200,000 IU of penicillin was injected intramuscularly per pig each time, twice daily for 2 consecutive days; and 300-500 ml of 5% glucose saline per pig was infused intravenously. One pig died on the 2nd day of treatment, and the rest all recovered after 4 days. (3) After the pig herd recovered, feeding of a diet mainly composed of distiller's grains was resumed, with an appropriate amount of baking soda powder added to the feed. Follow-up later showed that no further cases of distiller's grains poisoning occurred in the pig herd at this farm.