[Eperythrozoon infection in swine as a disease factor]

Infection with Eperythrozoon suis (E. suis) normally takes a latent course and depends on various factors. Only animals suffering extreme stress show clinically manifest attacks with anemia, fever and occasionally jaundice. Stress in the form of high animal-concentration in the stables, poor climatic conditions, change of stables or food or chronic general diseases predispose the pigs to clinical illness. The diagnosis of E. suis infection is made difficult by the prevalence of general diseases in the stocks. Experimental infections have shown that also latent infections with E. suis cause partly significant deviations in the red and white blood cell count as well as in the glucose and acid-base balance and lead to serologically detectable immune reactions which could be used as a basis for stock-diagnosis. It is still unknown to what extent infection with E. suis represents a factor in the manifestation of other complex diseases. Some observations, however, give reason to believe that Eperythrozoonosis as a basis infection is itself a precursor for the manifestation of widespread infectious diseases.