What are the causes of sudden death in pigs? Check these 9 causes first
Sudden death in pigs: look for these 9 causes first!
Viral diseases often have the typical course of an infectious disease; whether acute, subacute, chronic, mild, or subclinical, they can often go through the incubation period, prodromal period, period of obvious symptoms, and recovery or outcome period.
Viral diseases rarely present as the most acute type with sudden death. (Just as high fever pathology rarely presents with diarrhea. High fever causes a reduction in body water, which diarrhea does not easily cause. Reports of the symptom of high fever with diarrhea may be individual cases, or transient, or insisted upon by argumentative people.)
1. Swine plague (Swine plague)
An acute infectious disease caused by Pasteurella multocida (swine pasteurellosis), commonly known as “locked throat wind” and “swollen neck plague.” It is pathogenic to many animals and humans, with pigs being the most susceptible. The sudden death of swine plague is instantaneous death, the fastest kind of sudden death. Before death everything appears normal, and the pig dies in the blink of an eye. There is no incubation period, no prodromal period, and no pathological changes.
2. Swine listeriosis (Swine listeriosis)
It is mainly a zoonotic infectious disease of humans, livestock, and poultry caused by Listeria monocytogenes. In pigs, it is an infectious disease characterized by meningoencephalitis, septicemia and monocytosis, and abortion in pregnant sows.
The sudden death of swine listeriosis is dying while watching helplessly. In poor farming areas where pigs are raised rolling in manure pits, there are often folk rumors of occasional sudden death in humans and livestock over many years.
3. Swine erysipelas (Swine erysipelas; Diamond-skin disease)
An acute febrile infectious disease that occurs mainly in pigs. It is caused by the intracellular bacterium Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae. The acute type presents as septicemia, the subacute type shows purplish-red rash patches on the skin, and the chronic type mainly causes endocarditis and arthritis. It is occasionally seen in other livestock and poultry.
Pigs with acute septicemic swine erysipelas die suddenly without showing any symptoms. The sudden death of swine erysipelas is often overnight death. Late at night the pig still looks alive, and under the shine of a flashlight its eyes glisten. When checked in the morning, the pig has been dead for a long time. 4. Swine fever (Swine fever; Hog cholera)
It is an acute, febrile, contagious infectious disease caused by the swine fever virus of the genus Pestivirus in the family Flaviviridae. It is highly contagious and lethal.
The most acute type of swine fever in pigs has a very rapid onset and sudden death. Pigs with sudden death from swine fever are often within an affected group, with endemic prevalence in the surrounding area as well.
5. Piglet edema disease (Piglet edema disease)
It occurs mostly in piglets around weaning; sometimes an entire litter of piglets suddenly becomes ill and dies quickly, and sometimes only 1-2 piglets become ill and die suddenly. The main manifestations are head edema, circling, hoarse squealing, and purpling of the lower parts of the limbs and both ears. Necropsy shows edema of the greater curvature of the stomach, edema of the mesentery, enlargement of the systemic lymph nodes, and hemorrhagic spots in the parenchymal organs.
The sudden death of this disease is actually death after a long illness, only the dying process is short. If this is also called sudden death, then the rapid death after a long illness in clostridial enteritis (piglet red dysentery), porcine infectious gastroenteritis, epidemic diarrhea, rotavirus infection, and mycotoxin poisoning can also be called sudden death.
6. Transmissible pleuropneumonia of swine (Transmissible pleuropneumonia of swine)
Also known as Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae infection of swine, or Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae infection of swine.
The most acute cases often suddenly fall to the ground and die, with pale red frothy fluid flowing from the mouth and nose; acute cases have body temperature rising above 42°C, rapid and extremely difficult breathing, pale red frothy fluid flowing from the mouth and nose, and death within a few hours. Necropsy shows the trachea and bronchi filled with pale red frothy fluid, the lungs purplish-red to blackish-red, fibrinous exudate attached to the pulmonary pleura, and widened interlobular septa of the lungs.
7. Piglet white muscle disease (Piglet white muscle disease)
It is caused by selenium and vitamin E deficiency and occurs mostly in piglets under 2 months of age. Affected piglets appear healthy and well-nourished, and under the influence of stress factors they suddenly scream a few times and die abruptly. Necropsy shows skeletal muscle (especially the muscles of the rump and thigh) that is dull in color with grayish-white streaks, radial streaks in the diaphragm, a mulberry-like appearance of the heart, and an enlarged, hard and brittle liver with a rough surface and areca-nut-like patterns on the cut surface.
8. Enteric haemorrhage syndrome (Enteric haemorrhage syndrome)
It is caused by stress, and boars and fattening pigs aged 6-9 months may die suddenly. Necropsy shows a large amount of blood in the small intestine; the hemorrhage usually extends from the ileum to the entire small intestine and large intestine, but no obvious bleeding point can be found.
9. Sudden death stress syndrome of swine (sudden death stress syndrome of swine)
After intense stimulation, the pig dies suddenly without showing any symptoms. For example, excessive excitement when a boar is mating, extreme fright when being chased, excessive crowding during transport, and so on, can all lead to sudden death due to excessive nervous tension. (Source: China Breeding)