Introduction

Porcine intestinal spirochaetosis is a notifiable

Notifiable disease

A notifiable disease is any disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities. The collation of information allows the authorities to monitor the disease, and provides early warning of possible outbreaks. Many governments have enacted regulations for reporting of both human...

 pig disease caused by the bacterium Brachyspira pilosicoli

Brachyspira pilosicoli

Brachyspira pilosicoli is a gram-negative spiral-shaped obligate anaerobe bacterium. It is a member of the Spirochaetes family. The bacterium is loosely coiled and is 6-11µm long. It has several flagellae, inserted at either pole of the cell, and a lipopolysaccharide cell wall. It causes intestinal...

. Infection causes mild gastrointestinal signs in young pigs

PIGS

PIGS is a four letter acronym that can stand for:* PIGS , Phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis, class S, a human gene* PIGS , the economies of Portugal, Italy , Greece and Spain...

and intestinal spirochetosis

Intestinal spirochetosis

Intestinal spirochetosis, also intestinal spirochetes, colonic spirochetosis and colonic spirochetes, is an infection of the colonic-type mucosa with spirochete microorganisms.-Symptoms:...

 in humans, as it is a zoonosis

Zoonosis

A zoonosis or zoonoseis any infectious disease that can be transmitted from non-human animals to humans or from humans to non-human animals . In a study of 1415 pathogens known to affect humans, 61% were zoonotic...

.

The disease is widespread in pig-rearing countries and may be referred to as PIS, Spirochaetal Diarrhoea and Porcine Colonic Spirochaetosis.

Clinical Signs & Diagnosis

Clinical signs are most commonly seen in young pigs aged 8-14 weeks. Normally a greyish diarrhoea is seen in individual piglets, and poor growth rates and feed conversion ratios

Feed conversion ratio

In animal husbandry, feed conversion ratio , feed conversion rate, or feed conversion efficiency , is a measure of an animal's efficiency in converting feed mass into increased body mass....

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

Agar plate

An agar plate is a Petri dish that contains a growth medium used to culture microorganisms or small plants like the moss Physcomitrella patens.Selective growth compounds may also be added to the media, such as antibiotics....

 medium, followed by PCR. Alternatively, postmortem

Autopsy

An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...

 and histological examination

Histology

Histology is the study of the microscopic anatomy of cells and tissues of plants and animals. It is performed by examining cells and tissues commonly by sectioning and staining; followed by examination under a light microscope or electron microscope...

of the large intestine can confirm the diagnosis.

Treatment & Control

Antibiotics are the treatment of choice. They should be administered by injection or 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.