Recognition, Prevention and Control of Swine Diseases - Dr. Bryan Myers, Pipestone Veterinary Clinic, from the 2016 Missouri Pork Expo, February 9-10, 2016, Columbia, Missouri, USA. More presentations at http://www.swinecast.com/2016-missouri-pork-expo

1. Bryan Myers DVM
Pipestone Veterinary Services

2.  Starts before the pigs arrive
 Barn Setup
 Barn Layout
 Health Program

3.  Barn Clean
◦ Underneath feeders
◦ Load out
◦ Office/Entryway
 Barn Disinfected
◦ Synergize 1 ounce per gallon
 Barn Dry
◦ Cheapest disinfectant you can buy
 Barn Warm
◦ Starts minimum 12 hours before pigs arrive

4.  Barn Set up
◦ Feeders set
 Not wide open from washing
 Clean and Dry (Synergize does not taste good)
◦ Feed delivered
 Right bin, right slide open?
◦ Water
 Clean and Dry (Synergize does not taste good)
◦ Ventilation and Temperature Set
 Controller is set – curve if used is set
◦ Pig Deliveries Set

5.  Barn Layout and Inventory Plan
◦ Utilizes all available space
◦ Provides pens for general population
◦ Provides pens for small pigs
◦ Provides hospital pens
◦ Provides graduation/recovery pens.

8.  Health Plan
◦ Vaccination program
 Mycoplasma and Circovirus given at the sow farm
 Ileitis and Erysipelas in water
◦ Feed Medication program
◦ Water Medication program
◦ Injectable Medication program

9.  Pigs are sorted by size on arrival
 Smallest 5% of pigs put together

10.  Pull down pens left open on placement

11.  Are they the same
thing?
 Usually not
 Pull down pens are for
healthy fall behind
pigs (small pigs)
 Treat pens are for
pigs that need to be
treated with anti-
infective

12.  Developing a marking system for pigs
◦ Treated pigs need to be identified
◦ Different colors
◦ Different parts of body marked
◦ By number of injections
◦ By day of week

14. By the day of the week
Monday Red Mark
Wednesday Green Mark
Friday Blue Mark

15. By the injection
First Injection Red Mark
Second Injection Green Mark

17. Identification of Pigs Needing Treatment
Careful head to tail, top to bottom observation of each
individual pig.
Need to see every pig every day.
Should take 2-3 seconds per pig.
(40-60 minutes for 1200 head barn)
To be successful the pig needing treatment needs
to be found at the proper time.
NOT TOO LATE!!

18. Look at head
Discharge out of nose?
Watery eyes?
Ears – red or purple? up or laid down?
Look at body
Spine showing?
Chest thumping?
Belly full or empty?
Look at feet and legs
Swollen joints?
Lameness?

19. All sick pigs start their disease event as an “A” pig
 “A” clinical signs include usually the following:
 Usually looks like a healthy pig until further investigation. An “A”
pig is not easily found especially if individuals are not assessed
 Usually in full flesh and/or bloom
 May or may NOT be gaunt based on the length of time the pig
has been sick
 May or may NOT be rough haired. If fuzzy, this might be due to
weather conditions or bad environment
 Commonly depressed
 Listless ears and dull, red or weepy eyes are common
 Commonly hard breathing/thumping if respiratory

21.  What is a “B” Pig?
◦ Remember, all sick pigs start their disease
event as an “A” pig
 “B” clinical signs include definite gauntness; thinner,
slab sided
 Beginnings of flesh loss, some spine showing
 Rough hair is common
 May be have a soiled coat due to laying down more
than healthy pigs
 Black exudate around the eyes, listless ears

23.  What is a “C” Pig?
◦ Remember, all sick pigs start their disease
event as an “A” pig, move to a “B” pig and
then to a “C” pig.
 “C” clinical signs include severe gauntness and thin
 advanced tissue loss, typically the spine is showing
 severe depression and nearing euthanasia

25.  It is the right thing to do.
 High level of success when;
◦ Identify sick pig early
◦ Treat with the right drug
◦ At the correct dose
◦ At the right time = Early

26.  Find pigs with slight
gauntness, stomach
slightly tucked
 High chance of
success
 May not have to be
sorted off
 May just need an
antibiotic injection.

27.  Treatment for success
drops
 Poor flesh, eyes glassy
and dull
 Need to be sorted off into
hospital pen
 Need extra nutrition,
extra heat, extra space,
as well as an antibiotic
injection.

28.  Most likely too late
 Examples
 Strep pig
◦ On side paddling
◦ Swollen left rear hock
◦ Saliva staining on floor
 Severely debilitated pig
 Chance of treatment
success is very low
 Euthanasia may be the
only option.

29. “A” Pig “B” Pig “C” Pig
To be successful it is critical that pigs needing
treatment are identified early.

30.  Observe treated pigs for
signs of response
 Eyes are clear
 Appetite has returned
 Activity has returned
 Pigs are up eating and
drinking
 Essential to follow up to
ensure the treatment is
appropriate

31.  Conduct pull downs in
a timely manner
 24-48 hours is all that
is needed for fall back
pigs to go into a
negative energy
balance or dehydrate
 Provide them a
chance to compete
with pigs of similar
size

32.  Pull down pens will
have a variety of sizes
 Extra nutrition is
essential
 There is no nutritional value
in Excede or Draxxin!
 Extra heat
 Antibiotics do not help keep
the pig warm.

33. High energy products Easy for pigs to access

34. Creep feeder filled with pellets and water to make a
gruel.
1 minute later pigs are starting to come up to the pan
and eat.
2 minutes later the pan is surrounded by pigs.

35. Radiant heat from above (electric or gas) is preferred.
Electric mats may also be beneficial but increase incidence of enteric disease
Solid mats allow pigs to sleep on something that doesn’t pull their body heat
away.

36. Gas heater hanging from ceiling plus board over
concrete slats.
Electric heat mat in nursery.
Disposable mats over concrete slats in wean to finish
barn.

38.  Efficacy
◦ What diseases/bacteria are we treating?
 Duration of Treatment
◦ How long will an injection treatment last?
 Cost
◦ How much does the treatment cost?

40. Drug Dose Cost/ 20
lb bwt
treated
#
treatment
s
Days
covered
Cost of
treat/ day
Cost of 5
day treat
Draxxin 1cc / 88 # $0.71 1 9 $0.08 / day $ 0.71
Excede 1 cc / 44 # $0.37 1 7 $0.06 / day $ 0.37
Excenel 1 cc / 37 # $0.31 2 3 $0.21 / day $ 0.62
Baytril 1 cc / 30 # $0.53 1 2 $0.26 / day $ 1.06
Penicillin 1 cc / 20 # $0.03 3 3 $0.03 / day $ 0.15
LA 200 1 cc / 20 # $0.07 1 3 $0.02 / day $ 0.14

41. All antibiotics are cheap if they are effective.
All antibiotics are expensive if they don’t work.
Example:
Strep suis could possibly be treated with 3 injections of penicillin ($0.10)
or 1 injection of Excede ($0.37).
Questions to ask yourself:
Is Strep. more likely to be resistant to Penicillin or Excede? No
Will Penicillin be as effective as Excede against other possible
pathogens? No
Cheaper? Longer lasting? More convenient? Broader spectrum?

42. 7 days
37 cents
2 days
53 cents

43. Many commonly used antibiotics are low
volume
1 ml per 44 pounds
1 ml per 88 pounds
Critical that a proper syringe is used so that
an accurate dosage is given without wasting
product

44. Sort off pigs for treatment into hospital pen.
Give Excede (1 ml per 44 pounds)
Mark with red mark.
Re-evaluate in 5 days.
Fully recovered, looking good
Move pig to graduation pen
Looking better, but not fully recovered
Retreat with Excede and mark with blue mark
Looking significantly worse
Euthanize

45. Hospital Pen
Two heat lamps for extra heat
Creep feeder for extra nutrition
Pellets and Baby Pig Restart
made into a gruel and fed twice
daily
Graduation Pen
Higher energy diet – (pellets)

50. Look – Listen – Feel
Look for:
Water Usage
Pigs Piling
Floor
Feeders

51. Look – Listen – Feel
Listen for:
Activity
Normal sounds
Cough

52. Look – Listen – Feel
Feel:
Air quality
Good?
Bad?
Why?

53.  Utilize water meds when more than 5% of pigs
are exhibiting clinical signs
 Utilize water meds when the daily injection count
is over 2% of population for 3 consecutive days
 Daily sick pig identification and treatment must
continue when water meds are utilized
◦ Sick pigs that need meds are the first to back off water
consumption.
◦ Water medication does not replace injectable
medications.

54.  Efficacy
◦ What diseases/bacteria are we treating?
◦ Can I get the antibiotic from water to the necessary
organ? (i.e. lungs)
 Cost
◦ How much does the treatment cost?

57.  What problems are being seen?
◦ Get a diagnosis.
 How extensive is the problem?
◦ How many pigs are affected? 1%? 5%? 10%? 20%?
 What is going to be the cost of the therapy?
◦ Cost of antibiotic
◦ Cost of labor

58.  Remember
Sick Pigs Don’t Eat
Feed Medication Levels are Set
( i.e. Cannot use 100 gms of Mecadox)

59.  Have a plan and budget in place for normal
production.
N1 Denegard/CTC F1 Denegard/CTC
N2 Mecadox 50 gm F2 No Medication
N3 Mecadox 50 gm F3 No Medication
N4 No Medication F4 No Medication
F5 Tylan 100 gm/ton
F6 Paylean 4.5 gm/ton
 On an individual group basis medicate as needed
with injections and/or water.
 Feed medications are not very effective when
dealing with an acute disease issue

60. Feed Medications are not a replacement for water
medications.
Water or Feed Medications are not a replacement
for injectable medications.
Sick pigs don’t drink much and usually don’t eat
anything!

61. Take appropriate steps to minimize the need for
antibiotic use.
Assess advantages and disadvantages of all uses
of antibiotics.
Use antibiotics only when they provide measurable
benefits

62. Antibiotic use will require a Veterinarian-Client-
Patient Relationship (VCPR)
All injectable and water soluble antibiotics will be
prescription only.
Many feed grade antibiotics will be VFD.