Swine enzootic pneumonia (respiratory mycoplasmosis)
2001
Podersoo, D. | Saar, T. (Estonian Agricultural Univ., Tartu (Estonia). Faculty of Veterinary Medicine) | Szabo, I. (Hungarian Information Office, Budapest (Hungary). Pfizer Animal Health)
Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is the aetiological agent of enzootic pneumonia (EP) in pigs, a chronic respiratory disease which affects pigs of any age. Studies show that up to 93 per cent of swine herds worldwide are infected with mycoplasmal pneumonia, especially when pigs are raised under intensive conditions. Even at low levels of infection, this chronic respiratory disease represents significant costs to the farmer through reduced feed efficiency, lower daily weight gains, lack of uniformity in pig size, decreased carcass price and repeated antibiotic treatments. Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae graze the cilia on the trachea and bronchi. The cilia are important as help to protect the lung from pathogenes. Once the disease enters to lung it causes areas to collapse and the pig progressively becomes labored breathing. The disease can move via the air from infected farms to adjacent farms within 4,8 km (Muirhead et at.,1997). On the disease is transferred from the sow to offspring by dropled spread from coughing pigs. Clinical signs are coughing without fever, laboured breathing, variable growth rate, unthrifty appearance and reduced appetite. Eradication is practically and economically difficult as herds can be re-infected quickly. Effect of vaccination can raise daily live weight gain by 17 per cent and decrease feed conversion by 14 per cent
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