Disease Occurrence and Prevention Methods for Pigs at Different Feeding Stages

Disease occurrence in pigs at different feeding stages

The incidence of the three major infectious diseases of pigs

Swine fever, swine erysipelas and swine pasteurellosis are collectively known as the three major infectious diseases of pigs. In our country, the total mortality rate of affected pigs accounts for about 8% of the total raised population, and in areas with better prevention and control the pig mortality rate is also 5%. Therefore, the level of pig disease prevention and control should be raised. If the total pig mortality rate could be reduced by one percentage point each year, that would be equivalent to an additional 5 million pigs sent to market - what a huge fortune that would be.

According to relevant statistics, among the causes of pig death, those dying from disease account for about 80% or more, and among all pig diseases, infectious diseases account for about 70%-80%, of which swine fever, swine erysipelas and swine pasteurellosis in turn account for 70% of pig infectious diseases. Therefore, in pig disease prevention and control, the prevention and control of these three diseases has become the top priority.

Since the attenuated swine fever vaccine developed in our country is one of the world's advanced vaccines, the preventive effects of the swine fever vaccine, the swine fever-swine erysipelas bivalent vaccine, and the swine fever-swine erysipelas-swine pasteurellosis trivalent vaccine produced by designated pharmaceutical factories in China are all fairly reliable. In areas that follow a scientific immunization program and maintain a scientific vaccination density, these three diseases can all be effectively controlled. However, in some areas the grassroots veterinary epidemic prevention teams are unstable, and the pig vaccination density cannot be guaranteed. In some areas the immunization program cannot keep up with @#@227@#@ changes in circumstances, and the phenomenon of disease still occurring after vaccination has appeared; in some areas atypical swine fever occurs; in some areas the long-term use of bivalent vaccine has led to frequent outbreaks of swine pasteurellosis, causing undue losses to the local pig industry.

Prevention and Control of Diseases at the Piglet Stage

The mortality rate of piglets from 1 week to 2 weeks after birth due to various causes accounts for 65% of the entire piglet stage (from birth to 1 week to 2 weeks after weaning), and the mortality rate at the piglet stage accounts for 70% of the mortality rate over a pig's entire life. This shows the importance of feeding management and disease prevention and control at the piglet stage.

1. The occurrence of disease is related to feeding management. If newborn piglets are not kept warm properly, they are extremely prone to catching cold, having diarrhea, and even dying (for example, piglets huddling together because of cold may be crushed to death or injured); failure to supplement calcium in time can lead to piglet anemia and indigestion, etc.

2. Piglet red diarrhea, yellow diarrhea, white diarrhea, piglet paratyphoid, edema disease, etc. mostly occur at this stage, and the reasons for the occurrence of these diseases are roughly as follows:

(1) Low maternal antibody titer or no maternal antibodies;

(2) Poor health status of the sow;

(3) Poor sanitary conditions in the pig house;

(4) Piglets have not been vaccinated according to the relevant disease immunization program or have not received relevant drug prevention.

3. The growth and development speed at the piglet stage, especially the survival rate at weaning and the weaning litter weight, are important indicators for measuring the breeding efficiency of a pig farm. At the piglet stage, once a piglet becomes ill, even if it recovers after treatment, it will still have a great impact on its growth during the fattening stage, and some become stunted pigs because of this.

Disease prevention and control must be prioritized

1. In disease prevention, priorities should be established. For infectious diseases such as piglet colibacillosis, swine fever, swine erysipelas, swine pasteurellosis, piglet paratyphoid, streptococcosis, and enzootic pneumonia, most now have vaccines (bacterins), and vaccination should be carried out according to their respective immunization programs, avoiding the time of cross-stress from immunization.

2. In disease treatment, priorities must be established. When infectious diseases and common diseases occur at the same time, infectious diseases should be given priority; when two infectious diseases occur at the same time, fulminating infectious diseases and zoonoses should be given priority; when some secondary infections occur (such as secondary complications caused by influenza), differential diagnosis must be made.

Diseases of pigs at different feeding stages

Piglet stage (from birth to 1 week to 2 weeks after weaning)

This period is a critical time for pig growth. Most infectious diseases, some parasitic diseases, and nutritional deficiency diseases caused by improper feeding management can all threaten piglets and cause disease. Many diseases can cause direct death of piglets. The common ones are as follows:

Piglet red diarrhea: Mostly occurs in young pigs within 1 week of age.

Piglet white diarrhea: The incidence is high in newborn piglets.

Piglet edema disease: Mostly occurs in piglets from 40 days to 70 days of age; it rarely occurs in suckling pigs within 10 days of age, and recently there has been a trend of increasing age.

Swine fever: Suckling pigs and piglets before and after weaning can all be infected; the younger the diseased pig, the faster the death.

Swine erysipelas: Mostly caused by disease in the sow.

Swine pasteurellosis: Rarely occurs in suckling pigs; piglets after weaning can be infected and become ill during an epidemic period.

Streptococcus suis: Diseased piglets are highly susceptible, and the septicemic type often leads to rapid death of piglets.

Piglet paratyphoid: Mostly occurs in unvaccinated piglets from 2 months to 4 months of age; it very rarely occurs in piglets within 1 month of age.

Swine influenza: The incidence in piglets is low, and the incidence in weaned piglets increases.

Haemophilus parasuis disease: Often secondary after pigs are infected with influenza.

Congenital muscle tremor of piglets: This disease occurs sporadically in some areas, often affecting whole litters, and newborn pigs are often starved to death or crushed to death.

Foot-and-mouth disease in pigs: Infected young pigs have a very high mortality rate. When suckling pigs are infected with this disease, the vesicle symptoms are often not visible, and they often die from acute gastroenteritis or myocarditis.

Transmissible gastroenteritis: Has a high lethality rate for young pigs within 10 days of age.

Swine lungworm disease: Infection in piglets before weaning can cause mass deaths.

Ascariasis in pigs: Suckling pigs after 1 week of age can already be infected.

Cysticercosis in pigs: Piglets can be infected in endemic areas, but clinical symptoms rarely appear.

Piglet anemia: It is one of the common and frequently occurring diseases in suckling piglets from 2 weeks to 4 weeks of age; pigs affected from 3 days to 10 days of age may die suddenly.

Rickets (osteomalacia): Caused by calcium and phosphorus deficiency or an imbalanced ratio, among which congenital rickets is caused by poor bone development in the piglet embryo due to nutritional deficiency in the sow.

Fattening stage (feeder pigs - adult pigs)

The fattening stage is another critical stage in the growth of pigs (commercial pigs). During this period, because pigs grow at the fastest rate, various diseases also follow one after another. Whether they are common and frequently occurring infectious diseases, parasitic diseases, or metabolic diseases and poisoning diseases, they are all issues that pig farms of various scales must take seriously, and various prevention and control measures must be put into practice.

Among the common and frequently occurring diseases at the piglet stage, apart from yellow and white diarrhea and edema disease caused by Escherichia coli, as well as paratyphoid, piglet anemia, and rickets, most of the remaining infectious diseases and parasitic diseases can all be infected during the fattening stage, and the incidence rate far exceeds that at the piglet stage, posing a great threat to the pig industry.

In addition to the common and frequently occurring diseases at the piglet stage, almost all pig infectious diseases, parasitic diseases, metabolic diseases, and poisoning diseases can be infected or occur during the fattening stage. Therefore, every pig farm must formulate disease prevention and control systems and measures suited to its own actual situation.

1. Carry out immunization and vaccination against infectious diseases according to procedures. For newly purchased weaned piglets, their epidemic prevention status should be carefully understood, and necessary supplementary vaccination should be carried out (such as bivalent vaccine and trivalent vaccine); for some infectious diseases that occur seasonally, the pig herd should be immunized one month in advance; for infectious diseases for which there is currently no effective vaccine, drug prevention should be carried out 15 days in advance.

2. Regularly carry out drug deworming. Parasitic diseases are extremely harmful to fattening pigs. In addition to intestinal parasites, pig cysticercosis and toxoplasmosis are both zoonoses, among which toxoplasmosis can also cause seasonal and regional epidemics. Most parasitic diseases currently have no effective vaccine, so deworming and prevention must be carried out regularly through drugs. Pig farm manure should be piled up for fermentation, using biological heat to kill parasite eggs.

3. Prevent common diseases by strengthening feeding management. Many common diseases, such as trace element deficiency, vitamin deficiency, and poisoning diseases, can be completely prevented by feeding high-quality complete compound feed. Therefore, the nutrition and hygiene of feed and drinking water should be strengthened.

4. Some infectious diseases can be prevented by adding drugs. At present, there is still no effective vaccine for the prevention of some pig infectious diseases, such as swine influenza, Haemophilus parasuis disease, viral diarrhea, and swine dysentery. At present, there are some Chinese herbal compound powders and dusts on the market, which can be mixed into feed for prevention and treatment, and some Chinese herbal powders also have a growth-promoting effect.

5. Observe strict hygiene and disinfection systems. Because intensive pig farms have good facilities and conditions, their pens are easy to clean and disinfect. The pens of free-range farms have poor sanitary conditions, so they must be cleaned frequently and covered frequently with fresh soil, manure must be piled up for fermentation, pens must be frequently sprayed with disinfectants, and the pen roofs, inner and outer walls, and passages must be thoroughly disinfected regularly.