Abstract
Necrotizing enteritis in piglets caused by Clostridium perfringens type C has been diagnosed in 32 Danish herds of swine (status as at March 1, 1967), the geographical location of which (Fig. 1) shows the enzootic character of the disease. The disease occurs both in small and large herds, and is characterized by a high mortality during the first week of life (Fig. 5). The mortality does not seem to be influenced either by the size of litter (Fig. 4) or by the state of health of the sows (Table 1).
After an incubation period varying from a few hours to a few days, the piglets develop symptoms of enteritis or gastro-enteritis with general malaise and anorexia. The disease, the course of which varies from about 12 hrs. to a few days, ends in coma and death. The body temperature usually remains normal, but may be subnormal or subfebrile.
The disease is accompained by hypoglycaemia and increased blood urea (Fig. 7). In peracute cases there is leukopenia, with some shift to the left of the heterophilic granulocytes. There is also leukopenia in subacute cases, but as regards the heterophils this is partly offset by a marked increase in the number of juvenile heterophils. Eosinopenia is another characteristic haematological finding (Table 3).
In the differential diagnosis; special attention should, under Danish conditions, be paid to E. coli infections in new-born piglets.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (2.1 MB).
Acknowledgments
The author is indebted to Drs. P. Slot, N. Friis, and J. Bech for professional help with the biochemical and haematologic examinations, and to Mrs. I. Hansen, Mrs. V. Riis, and Miss J. Weis for technical assistance.
References
- Andersen H K, Basse A, Møller T. Enzootisk optrsedende morbus Aujeszky hos pattegrise. Medlemsbl. danske Dyrlaegeforen. 1964;47:968–978. [Google Scholar]
- Bakhtin A G. Dysentery of new-born piglets. Veterinariya Moscow. 1956;33:30–32. [Google Scholar]
- Barnes D M, Moon H W. Enterotoxemia in pigs due to Clostridium perfringens type C. J. Amer. vet. med. Ass. 1964;144:1391–1394. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bay W W, Hutchings L M, Doyle L P, Bunnell D E. Transmissible gastroenteritis in baby pigs. J. Amer. vet. med. Ass. 1949;115:245–248. [Google Scholar]
- Bendixen H J, Borgen H C. Morbus Aujeszkyi's forekomst og optraeden hos svin i Danmark. Nord. Vet.-Med. 1965;17:657–671. [Google Scholar]
- Büsch, V.: Personal communication, 1967.
- Brown H H. Determination of blood urea with p-dimethylamino-benzaldehyde. Analyt. Chem. 1959;31:1844–1846. doi: 10.1021/ac60155a049. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- Carle B N, Dewhirst Wm H. A method for bleeding swine. J. Amer, vet. med. Ass. 1942;101:495–496. [Google Scholar]
- Clausen, Hj.: Personal communication, 1967.
- Dam A, Knox B. Om forekomsten af hsemolytiske Escherichiae coli i forbindęlse med enteritis og enterotoxaemi hos svin. 1962;IX:277–282. [Google Scholar]
- Doyle L P, Hutchings L M. A transmissible gastroenteritis in pigs. J. Amer. vet. med. Ass. 1946;108:257–259. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Estola T, Stenberg H. Om förekomsten av klostridier hos husdjur och i animaliska produkter. Nord. Vet.-Med. 1963;15:35–47. [Google Scholar]
- Field H I, Gibson E A. Studies on piglet mortality. 2. Clostridium welchii infection. Vet. Rec. 1955;67:31–35. [Google Scholar]
- Field H I, Goodwin F W. The experimental reproduction of enterotoxaemia in piglets. J. Hyg. (Lond.) 1959;57:81–91. doi: 10.1017/S0022172400019914. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Goodwin R F W. Some common factors in the pathology of the newborn pig. Brit. vet. J. 1955;111:361–372. doi: 10.1016/S0007-1935(17)47051-5. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- Gordon WAM, Luke D. Gastroenteritis in young piglets associated with Escherichia coli. Vet. Rec. 1958;70:542–543. [Google Scholar]
- Griner L A. Some factors influencing the incidence of enterotoxemia in domestic animals. Bull. Off. int. Épiz. 1963;59:1443–1451. [Google Scholar]
- Høgh P. Enterotoksaemi hos pattegrise forârsaget af Clostridium perfringens type C. Foreløbig meddelelse. Nord. Vet.-Med. 1965;17:1–8. [Google Scholar]
- Høgh P. Necrotizing infectious enteritis caused by Clostridium perfringens type C. I. Biochemical and toxigenic properties of the Clostridium. Acta vet. scand. 1967;8:26–38. doi: 10.1186/BF03547819. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Knox B. Ny pattegrisesygdom i Danmark. Medlemsbl. danske Dyrhegeforen. 1957;40:636–639. [Google Scholar]
- Laskowski M, Kassell B, Hagerty G. A crystalline trypsin inhibitor from swine colostrum. Biochim. biophys. Acta. 1957;24:300–305. doi: 10.1016/0006-3002(57)90198-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Levin K, Linde S. Bestämning av glycos i blod, liquor och urin med ett nytt glycosoxidasreagens. Svenska Läk.-Tidn. 1962;59:3016–3026. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Levine J M, Leon R, Steigmann F. A rapid method for the determination of urea in blood and urine. Clin. Ghem. 1961;7:488–493. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Manninger R. Entérite nécrosante infectieuse des porcelets à la mamelle. Bull. Off. int. Épiz. 1960;54:178–180. [Google Scholar]
- Mészáros J, Pesti L. Studies on the pathogenesis of gastroenteritis in swines. Acta vet. Acad. Sci. hung. 1965;15:465–470. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Moon H W, Bergeland M E. Clostridium perfringens type C enterotoxemia of the new-born pig. Canad. vet. J. 1965;6:159–161. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Saunders C N, Stevens A J, Spence J B, Sojka W J. Escherichia coli infection in piglets. Res. vet. Sci. 1960;1:28–35. doi: 10.1016/S0034-5288(18)35026-4. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- Szent-Iványi Th, Szabó St. Infectious necrotic enteritis of sucking pigs. I. Etiology and pathology. Acta vet. Acad. Sci. hung. 1956;6:217–229. doi: 10.1007/BF03157324. [DOI] [Google Scholar]