1. Clinical signs and diagnosis

2. Treatment and control

3. References

Porcine intestinal spirochaetosis is a notifiable pig disease caused by the bacterium Brachyspira pilosicoli. Infection causes mild gastrointestinal signs in young pigs and intestinal spirochetosis in humans, as it is a zoonosis.

The disease is widespread in pig-rearing countries and may be referred to as PIS, spirochaetal diarrhoea and porcine colonic spirochaetosis.

Clinical signs and diagnosis

Clinical signs are most commonly seen in young pigs aged eight to 14 weeks. Normally, a greyish diarrhoea is seen in individual piglets, and poor growth rates and feed conversion ratios are observed on a herd level.

Stress, caused by moving and mixing groups of piglets, can increase incidence.

A definitive diagnosis can be made by culturing the bacterium on a specific blood agar medium, followed by PCR. Alternatively, necropsy and histological examination of the large intestine can confirm the diagnosis.

Treatment and control

Antibiotics are the treatment of choice. They should be administered by injection or in drinking water. Pig husbandry measures should be employed to ensure that stressors such as the mixing and moving of pigs are kept to a minimum to reduce disease incidence.

References

• Porcine Intestinal Spirochaetosis, reviewed and published by WikiVet at http://en.wikivet.net/Porcine_Intestinal_Spirochaetosis, accessed 19/09/2011.

• The Metropolitan Hotel
• The Metropolitan Magazine
• The metropolitan museum of art
• The Metropolitan Museum Of Art
• The Metropolitan (Rochester)
• The Metropolitan Waterworks Authority
• The Metros
• The Metrowest Daily News
• The MetroWest Jewish News
• The Met (skyscraper)
• The Mews
• The Mews, Virginia
• The MeX
• The Mexecutioner! - The Best of Brujeria
• The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
• The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
• The Mexican American Legislative Caucus
• The Mexican Dream
• The Mexican Miracle
• The Mexicano
• The Mexican Pets
• The Mexican War Streets
• The Mexico Ledger
• The Mexico Stone Store
• The Mexico Trilogy