[Chlamydial infection in pericarditis in pigs]

An etiologic study was carried out for the presence of Chlamydia in the case of pericarditis in pigs on a large swine-breeding complex. Investigated were some clinical, epizootiologic, and morphologic aspects of the disease. A strain of Chlamydia psittaci was isolated in chick embryos from pericardial liquids of affected animals. It was identified through electron-microscopic and antigenic studies. Elementary and initial bodies of Chlamydia were seen in ultrathin sections of the infected yolk sacs. Eatherial-and-acetone group-specific antigens that were purified on Sepharose 2B and 4B were obtained. The disease was contracted chiefly by pigs at the age of 30-70 days. The clinical picture was not strictly indicative. Disease cases were recorded in all seasons of the year. Both the gross lesions and the histologic findings spoke of serofibrinous pericarditis.