Saturday, February 5, 2022

Pneumonia devastating hog herds in Iowa

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (APP) has been breaking out in swine herds in Iowa leading to high death rates overnight.

They appear fine one day; the next they’re dead, two veterinarians told a recent meeting.


Sometimes they’ve seen a day or two with a moderate increase in mortality. If they can catch those early, they can avoid the big spike., said one of the veterinarians speaking on a webinar hosted by the Swine Health Information Center, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians and the Iowa State University Swine Medicine Education Center. 


Another veterinarian who oversees eight farms said pigs from multiple sow sources have been affected even though none of the sow herds are APP positive. To date, the affected sites have been late finishing phase animals prior to marketing activities. 


“We saw a sudden rapid increase of disease in the healthy general population animals. We also saw blood and froth from the oral and nasal cavities, and extremely severe lethargy with dog sitting, thumping and coughing in the barns. 


“And we had several instances reported of animals coughing up blood and expiring within seconds or minutes,” one veterinarian said.