Monitoring for swine dysentery: six years' experience with a control scheme

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Medicine
• Animal Health
• Disease Control

Background:

• Swine dysentery, caused by Treponema hyodysenteriae, poses a significant threat to pig farming.
• Previous control methods were often hampered by pharmaceutical masking.
• A need existed for a robust scheme to ensure disease-free herds.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of a control scheme for swine dysentery in British pig herds.
• To assess the feasibility of maintaining disease freedom through specific management practices.

Main Methods:

• Initiation of the Pig Health Control Association scheme in 1978.
• Strict criteria for herd qualification: absence of clinical signs and negative laboratory tests for Treponema hyodysenteriae.
• Prohibition of routine pharmaceutical use that could mask disease.
• Controlled introduction of new stock via qualifying herds or advanced reproductive technologies.

Main Results:

• 91 herds qualified within the first six years; 56 remained listed by 1983.
• 72 herds imported stock from 36 other qualifying herds without introducing disease.
• No evidence of swine dysentery occurred within the scheme since its inception.
• Herds established entirely from listed herds also remained disease-free.

Conclusions:

• Freedom from swine dysentery can be readily maintained in controlled pig herds.
• The monitoring and control methods employed are effective in preventing disease introduction and spread.
• This scheme provides a viable model for achieving and sustaining swine dysentery-free status.