The Swine Health Information Center is encouraging pork producers and veterinarians conduct follow-up diagnostics when the common causes of respiratory infection have been ruled out.
A Swine Health Information Center funded study conducted by the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Lab has linked porcine astrovirus type 4 to respiratory pathology in pigs.
SHIC Associate Director Dr. Megan Niederwerder says the study was conducted in response to pigs that showed clinical signs of respiratory disease consistent with but that tested negative for Influenza A virus.
Quote-Dr. Megan Niederwerder-Swine Health Information Center:
The recommendations are really to continue keep the lesser-known pathogens on your radar, such as porcine astrovirus, when you have lesions that are consistent with airway inflammation.This would be Tracheitis or Bronchitis in your lesions of respiratory disease from pigs.
Often times these are tested for Influenza A virus.If the pathogen that you consider to be the highest on your rule out list comes back as negative, it's always important to utilize additional diagnostics to understand if there are lesser known or lesser described pathogens that are impacting disease in your herd.
One of the ways in which the Swine Health Information Center can help producers and veterinarians with those cases, is that we do have a diagnostic support fee that can be applied for and where the endemic disease pathogens or the highest rule out pathogens have been ruled out and the producers and veterinarians want to pursue additional diagnostics but may not have the funds to perform those diagnostics.
They can reach out and apply for our diagnostic fee support which can help in these situations where we are looking for an unknown causative agent of disease.
Dr. Niederwerder notes details of the study can be accessed at swinehhealth.org as part of SHIC's June eNewsletter.
Source : Farmscape.ca