Suiscide Disease and Nursery Production

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Suis-cide Disease and Nursery Production

• Kevin J. Vilaca, B.Sc., M.Sc., DVM
• Maitland Swine Services
• Ontario, Canada

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Main Areas

• The diseases
• Strep, H and A Suis
• Mini case study
• Treatment/control
• Prevention

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Stockmanship

• This is an old word that is not used as much as
  it used to be but is vital to pig production.
• Simply put, it is your intimate knowledge and
  understanding of pigs.
• It is obtained by two ways
• Knowledge (learned or acquired from hands on)
• Experience (time put in and hands on)
• Everyone who will work with pigs will need to
  have or develop it.
• Protocols are important and necessary but
  stockmanship is vital to working successfully
  with pigs.

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Fear the Silver Bullet

• There is no such thing as a silver
  bullet.
• Diseases on farm are complex and
  multifactorial.
• Require you to have an assorted arsenal to solve
  the problems.
• Any one that depends on only one method or one
  approach for every situation (a silver bullet) is
  dangerous.
• As a student, do not fall in to the silver bullet
  trap. Approach each situation systematically and
  with an open mind.

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The Bacteria

• Streptococcus suis
• Haemophilus parasuis (Glassers Disease)
• Actinobacillus suis
• Great amount of virulence and strain variation
• Colonization of animals occurs early in life
• Can be a primary or secondary disease
• Always look for an underlining primary disease

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Clinical Picture

• Neurological signs (staggering, paddling)
• Respiratory distress (thumping, puffing)
• Joint infection (lameness, stiffness)
• Poor performance (growth, feed intake, etc.)
• Increase in morbidity and mortality (dead pigs)
• Post Mortem polyserocytis with fibrin on
  surface of internal organs (Thorax, Pericardium,
  Abdomen)

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Uneven pigs, Uneven Growth
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Lameness

• Swollen, inflamed joints

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Dead Pig (sudden death)
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Enlarged Heart, Adhesions on pericardium and lungs
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Completely adhered Pericardium
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Fibrin adhesions on thoracic surface and
pericardium
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Sample Selection

• Minimum Information
• Histology Lung, liver, Spleen, Kidney (Heart,
  Lymph nodes, Tonsils, Brain)
• Culture Pluck (LungHeart etc.) with intact
  pericardium
• Can also choose to swab other organs/tissues
• Brain Swab (I like this)

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Sample Interpretation

• Histology
• Lets you know what is going on at a cellular
  level
• Gives you indications if there is an underlining
  viral component PRRS, SIV, PCV2 (lots of times
  there is)
• Bacteriology (culture)
• Most important Questions - Is it significant?
• Some bacteria can be present in the respiratory
  tract and not be significant
• How do you know?

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Indicates Swabs collected on Farm
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Culture Interpretation

• Culture was able to grow 5 Bugs
• Strep suis 7 24, H. parasuis, P. multocida and
  Proteus.
• Big question is which ones if any are important?
• This is vital for treatment decisions, as well as
  for decision making for possible autogenous
  vaccines.

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P. multocida

• This bacteria is a normal inhabitant of the
  respiratory tract.
• Predominantly is an opportunistic bacteria that
  multiplies when defense mechanisms are
  down/damaged.
• In this case, it was unlikely responsible for the
  disease since it was only isolated from the lung

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H. Parasuis

• This bacteria is known to cause disease and the
  clinical signs we are seeing.
• It can be cultured from the lungs without causing
  disease.
• In this case it was only cultured from the lungs.
• Less likely to be the pathogen responsible for
  disease.

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Strep. suis

• Strep. suis can be found in the respiratory tract
  of pigs and not cause disease.
• Strep. should not be cultured from tissues that
  are otherwise sterile
• Strep. 7 was found in all tissues except the
  pleural swab
• Strep. 24 was only found in the lung culture
• Since Strep. 7 was found in tissues that for all
  intents and purposes are sterile, this is
  significant
• The pathogen has clearly entered the blood stream
  and established itself in other tissue (Heart,
  Brain, Pericardium)

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Proteus

• Fast growing and very easily overgrows culture
  plates (drowns other bacteria out)
• Presence usually indicates the quality of the
  sample collection (contamination)
• In this case it shows that the vet really needs
  to learn to be more careful and collect better
  samples when on farm!

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Treatment (antibiotics)

• Ideally treatment should be based on culture and
  sensitivity (perfect world)
• However, many times you have to make a call to
  start treating on farm (pigs are dying)
• So how do you make your decision?
• NOTE Always collect your samples. You may need
  them if there is no response to treatment, and
  once you have treated your ability to isolate the
  bacteria may be diminished or biased.

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Antibiotic selection

• Route of Administration
• Feed
• Pro low cost, ease of administration
• Con delayed timing (ordering, delivering, feed
  already in bins), Sick pigs may not eat.
• Water
• Pro ease and speed of administration, sick pigs
  will still drink
• Con moderate cost
• Injectable
• Pro accurate dosing of acute cases,
• Con labour intensive, higher cost
• Often a combination of two of the above

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Antibiotic Selection

• Factors to consider
• Clinical picture how aggressive is the disease
  (mortality/production)
• Post mortem finding what is the most likely
  bacteria involved
• Past experience in similar cases, what has
  worked
• Response to previous treatments have they
  treated the pig with no response already (ASK)
• Susceptibility/Resistance what was the
  sensitivity pattern? (there is a difference
  between in vitro results and in vivo results)
• Pharmacology mode of action, absorption,
  distribution

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Control/prevention

• Stress is a killer reduce them
• Transport, pig movement/handling
• Nursery environment
• Sanitation, temperature, ventilation,
• Management
• All in/ All out, stocking density, mixing of
  pigs, mixing of ages/parity.
• In feed medication (preventative, pulse)
• Vaccination Especially if resistance is an
  issue
• Education of barn staff If they know why it is
  important to do it they are more likely to get it
  done

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Temperature

• Pigs above are too cold (pilled)
• Pigs below are just right (spread out)

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Autogenous vaccines

• A non-commercial herd specific vaccine that is
  composed of bacteria isolated from the farm which
  the vaccine is to be used on.
• Sample (pathogen) selection is vital to vaccine
  success.
• Multiple animals cultured over a 2 or 3 sample
  periods
• Due to cost and efficacy only the bacteria
  responsible should be included. (can be more than
  one involved)
• Like the treatment example, you need to know
  which bacteria is responsible.

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In this case I would be starting off with a
vaccine that only contained S. suis 7
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Importance of Viruses

• Always look for Primary Viral involvement
• PRRS acts as an immunosuppressant to allow
  bacteria to establish a foot hold
• Swine Influenza (SIV) damages the lungs defense
  mechanisms (bronchial cilia) and prevent
  bacterial clearance (establishment)
• Circo Virus leads to immunosuppressant and
  allow bacteria to establish. Plays a greater role
  than previously thought.
• Mycoplasma a bacteria that acts by coating the
  lining of the bronchiols preventing ciliary
  action

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No such thing as a Silly Question

• Thank You!
• AASV
• Maitland Swine Services
• Any Questions?