PED causes diarrhea in pigs and how to treat it

1. Causes of PED (PORCINE EPIDEMIC DIARROEA)

The disease is caused by a Coronavirus (same family as TGE virus), a fairly common disease in pigs. The virus attacks the intestinal villi, reducing the absorption surface, leading to dehydration and loss of nutrients, causing death in pigs, with a high mortality rate of 30% to 100%, causing great economic losses.

There are 2 strains of PED virus

PED strain 1: only infects pigs during the growth stage

PED strain 2: infects all types of pigs, including adult sows

– The virus survives for a long time in the environment and waste, and is easily destroyed by light and disinfectants.

2. How it spreads

– The disease spreads rapidly in the farm, from the time the virus enters until the first symptoms appear about 18 – 24 hours

– The disease spreads rapidly to all pig herds in the farm with typical symptoms of diarrhea

– Indirect transmission is from means of transport, especially vehicles and people entering and exiting to buy and sell pigs.

– The disease is transmitted directly through feces, nasal secretions, vomit of piglets, through sow milk and especially through the air (researchers from the University of Minnesota, USA, have published an article in the journal Veterinary Research stating that they have proven that PEDV can fly in the air, can be infectious while suspended in the air). After entering the digestive tract, the virus multiplies in the small intestine, corroding the intestinal villi, causing the intestines to become thinner, bleed, and unable to digest food, causing the animal to vomit and have diarrhea with undigested milk, so the stool and vomit are pale or dark yellow.

3. Clinical symptoms

– Piglets follow the mother: suckle less or stop suckling, have loose, fishy, ​​yellow diarrhea, and vomit undigested milk, so the piglets lose weight quickly due to dehydration, become thin, walk unsteadily, have white, sticky stools at the anus, wrinkled skin, long hair, and a decrease in body temperature, so the typical symptom is that the piglets like to lie on the mother’s belly for warmth.

– The disease spreads rapidly to all pig herds in the farm – Treatment with antibiotics specifically for diarrhea is ineffective.

The mortality rate of piglets depends on the age of infection:

– Piglets at 0 – 5 days old are infected with the disease, the mortality rate is 100%

– Piglets at 6 – 7 days old are infected with the disease, the mortality rate is about 50%

– Piglets older than 7 days old are infected with the disease, the mortality rate is about 30%

4. Diagnosis

Based on symptoms: piglets have diarrhea with a high mortality rate, spreads quickly, piglets like to lie on their mother’s belly, treatment with antibiotics is ineffective, the mortality rate for pigs under 5 days old is up to 100%, it is very difficult to distinguish from TGE even when viewing the virus on an electron microscope.

Usually, people use serological tests to evaluate the increase in antibody levels or use Elisa to test diarrhea samples or intestinal contents

– Distinguishing diseases: is very difficult, we need to survey and record the progression of the disease throughout the farm:

+ Barn conditions: Wet, cold, dirty barns, weak resistance of piglets, piglets that have not been injected with iron, sows that have not been fully vaccinated are the causes of infectious diseases that cause diarrhea in piglets.

+ Fast spread can be due to PED, TGE… slow spread can be due to E.coli, Cocidiosis…

+ Based on the age of the disease: PED is common in all ages, TGE is common in the first 20 days of age, Cocidiosis is common after 1 week of age…

+ Disease and death rate: The disease causes many deaths, fast, treatment with specific antibiotics without results can be PED, TGE, while the disease caused by E.coli, Cocidiosis… can be cured with antibiotics and specific anti-coccidiosis drugs.

– Send samples to the laboratory

+ Find coccidial oocysts

+ Identify TGEV, PEDV viruses

+ Antibiogram (only when necessary)