As more hog operations start to wean pigs earlier, an expert says producers should keep an eye out for edema disease.
Mike Wilson, a swine veterinarian from Guelph, Ont., says the disease is becoming more prevalent in the southern United States and some Ontario operations.
Wilson spoke to Manitoba producers at a recent seminar organized by International Pigletter.
Edema is caused by E. coli and is characterized by excess watery fluid in the body tissues and cavities. Wilson said it occurs four to 20 days after weaning, when pigs are cut off from the antibodies in their mothers’ milk.
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Pigs only start to produce their own antibodies at two weeks of age.
Edema starts as diarrhea three to four days after weaning.
Then pigs develop a higher-pitched squeal. Attentive producers should notice the change in voice, said Wilson, and treat pigs with antibodies.
If untreated, pigs often start to show nervous signs, such as tilting their heads and trembling. Australian producers call them “dippy pigs,” said Wilson.
Death is sudden.
A post-mortem will reveal increased fluid under swollen, puffy eyelids, and fluid in the stomach walls, lungs, abdominal cavity and thorax.
The mortality rate from edema disease is five to 10 percent, said Wilson. Often, the largest pigs in the litter are affected first by the disease.
Wilson said he believes these pigs get the most antibodies from sow’s milk, so when they are weaned they are less likely to produce their own antibodies and less immune than smaller pigs.
There are two kinds of vaccines producers can give to hogs before they are weaned.
Other measures include controlling barn temperatures so E. coli can’t produce toxins, improving
diets and changing genetics in the herd.
Producers should ask diagnostic labs to look for E. coli and edema disease in post mortems if they suspect it to be the cause of sudden deaths in pigs, said Wilson.
