Pig vets are being urged to be vigilant for a new disease syndrome associated with a parvovirus variant found in the Netherlands and Denmark.
The variant has already been detected on a number of farms in the Netherlands and a single breeding farm in Denmark.
The key clinical features seen in multiple pigs are bilateral exophthalmos (bulging eyes), strabismus (eyes point in different directions), generalised skin reddening, skin wrinkling and alopecia, and reduced growth. Some pigs also show respiratory signs, APHA advised in an update on its Emerging & Endemic Disease Alert System (EEDAS).
It described the first two clinical signs are ‘unusual and striking’. Their occurrence in multiple pigs with some description of skin pathology is likely to qualify as a suspect case for which there is funding at APHA for investigation.
It is most likely that affected pigs will be sucking piglets or weaners from 2 to 10 weeks of age, although age is not a criterion for submission to APHA if the key clinical signs are present in other ages of pig.
Morbidity is variable, but the disease can affect up to 80% of pigs in 50% of the litters at the same time. However, deaths directly due to the syndrome are low. Experience from infected farms suggests clinical signs persist in a herd for 3 to 6 months, with an average of 4.
Consequences can include peri-weaning diarrhoea or ‘greasy pig disease’ and batches become uneven with poorer quality finishers.
No common or specific risk factors have yet been identified to trigger the disease, but a new PV variant has been detected in high amounts in tissues from all affected pigs tested to date in both countries, and not in healthy pigs, the agency said.
“This new PV variant differs from known porcine PVs. It is most closely related to a PV that has been detected in faeces and spleen samples from foxes in the Netherlands, Croatia and Denmark,” it added.
It is not known how or when the virus was introduced into pigs in the Netherlands or Denmark. The virus was detected in foxes, although no disease was associated with it in these cases. Its pathogenic role in wildlife remains ‘uncertain’, the agency added.
A definitive causal relationship between the new PV variant and this disease syndrome in pigs has not yet been established. “In the meantime, pig keepers and vets in Europe are being alerted to the clinical signs described and encouraged to investigate any suspected cases, to identify cases beyond the Netherlands and Denmark,” APHA added.
This syndrome is not known to have occurred in pigs in Great Britain and, to date, there is no information as to whether the novel PV described occurs in pigs, foxes or other wildlife in Great Britain.
“Live pigs and pig semen can be imported into Great Britain from authorised EU countries or territories, subject to the applicable animal health requirements and certification. However, very little is known at present about risk factors, transmission and risk pathways,” the agency said.
