Swine fever: pathogen, symptoms and treatment, is it dangerous for humans

Swine fever is a dangerous infectious disease, due to which animals can develop other more dangerous diseases. For example, they can get pneumonia, hemorrhagic diathesis, or croupy inflammation of the intestine. Before you try to treat the plague, you need to become more familiar with the features of this disease.

Description of disease

Every person who is going to raise pigs in the future should read the description of plague in piglets. This infectious disease rarely occurs in piglets. However, if the animals are already sick, then it will not be easy to cure them due to the resistance of the plague to medical treatment.The disease is very dangerous, since individuals of any age can get sick with it. Even adult piglets with a strong immune system are not protected from the onset of distemper. The disease was first identified in Africa. However, over time, it spread to other continents. Now animals in any country can become infected with plague.

How is it transmitted?

It is necessary to understand in advance the peculiarities of the transmission of this dangerous infectious disease. Animals can become infected with distemper after contact with already infected piglets. In addition, the causative agent of the disease is found in water, food, and even on the surface of inventory. The penetration of the virus into the body is facilitated by damage to the surface of the skin and even bites left by insects.

Most animals that get plague die. However, individuals who managed to survive remain carriers of the virus.

All pigs that live within a radius of ten kilometers are under the threat of infection. Therefore, immediately after the first symptoms of the disease, infected animals are isolated from the rest of the piglets.

CSF symptoms

Symptomatology directly depends on the type of disease.

Intestinal form

Many piglets become infected with an intestinal disease that disrupts the animal's digestive processes. The first signs of distemper do not appear immediately, but a few days after infection. Therefore, farmers are not always able to immediately determine what sick pig.

At first, the animals begin to get constipated. Problems with bowel movements continue for several weeks. In the intervals between constipation, guinea pigs develop diarrhea. Then other signs of the virus gradually appear, which include fever and enterocolitis. A sick piglet stops eating, which leads to weight loss. If left untreated, the infected animal will die.

Pulmonary form

This type of distemper is considered one of the most dangerous, as it often leads to the death of a sick animal.At first, the distemper does not manifest itself in any way, and therefore it is difficult to determine that the piglet is sick with something. However, over time, the first symptoms begin to appear, which you should pay attention to.

The initial signs of pneumonic distemper include the following:

• cough that gets progressively worse;
• inflammation of the lungs accompanied by fever;
• discharge from nasal mucous fluid;
• shortness of breath with snoring.

Also, animals that get sick with plague often begin to sit on their hind legs. They do this to reduce pain in the lungs.

Chronic form

Sometimes sick animals do not die from the disease, but remain alive. In this case, the distemper becomes chronic. Symptoms appear from time to time.Piglets periodically suffer from fever, pneumonia and severe coughing. Sometimes sick guinea pigs develop symptoms characteristic of an atypical virus. These signs include the following:

• weight reduction, which leaves the animal with almost no fat;
• fever due to increased body temperature;
• loss of appetite;
• conjunctivitis;
• shortness of breath.

Sharp shape

According to many farmers, the acute form is considered the most dangerous, because due to the rapid development of the disease, animals die within 5-10 days. It is not easy to determine the disease in a timely manner due to the fact that it does not manifest itself immediately. In the first days, the disease does not manifest itself in any way. However, the following symptoms suddenly appear:

• high temperature and fever;
• diarrhea, during which feces with red blood streaks pass out;
• nasal congestion;
• red eyes;
• appearance of yellow pustules in the ears and abdomen;
• minor subcutaneous hemorrhages.

Lightning form

People who raise small pigs should be wary of the fulminant type of virus. This disease most often occurs in piglets whose age does not exceed six months. The lightning-fast form is dangerous for a weakened organism of animals. They may die within days of showing symptoms.

Common signs of fulminant distemper include:

• Vomiting. This is the main symptom that appears much earlier than the others.
• Spots under the skin. They appear as a result of subcutaneous bleeding resulting from vascular damage.
• Rise in temperature. Due to inflammatory processes in the body, body temperature rises greatly.

Subicidal form

Some animals have conditional resistance to this virus and therefore rarely become infected with other types of the virus. Most often, these pigs suffer from a subacid type of the disease, which is characterized by symptoms of a pulmonary and intestinal form.

The duration of the illness is two and a half weeks. After that, subacid distemper can become chronic. If this does not happen, the animal will die due to complications. The most common complication is salmonellosis, which worsens the functioning of the intestines. Animals develop diarrhea with the release of pus and blood.Also, piglets stop eating, which leads to rapid weight loss.

Diagnosis of disease

Some farmers believe they can diagnose the plague themselves. However, this is not easy to do, and therefore, to establish an accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to conduct special laboratory studies. Most often, in the process of diagnosing, a blood sample is taken and analyzed. In this case, blood must be taken from animals that are ill for a long time or have been in contact with piglets infected with the distemper virus.

Sometimes the diagnosis is confirmed by examining spleen particles. However, this is done in extreme cases, when a blood test did not help determine the disease.

Classic swine fever treatment

Despite the fact that the plague is considered an old disease, no effective cure has yet been developed against it. Therefore, if it became known that the pig fell ill with this disease, it is immediately isolated from other animals.An emergency vaccination is also carried out, which sometimes saves the lives of already infected piglets.

If vaccination fails, then the livestock will have to be destroyed and their corpses burned. This will prevent the spread of the disease.

Is swine fever dangerous for humans

Many farmers who plan to breed piglets are interested in whether the plague is dangerous to humans. You can relax, as this disease does not pose a danger to people. Not a single case has been recorded of a person contracting the plague from a piglet. The meat of diseased animals can even be eaten. However, before that, it is subjected to heat treatment for a long time. It is carefully fried or boiled in boiling water for several hours.Smoking such meat is contraindicated, as smoking does not destroy distemper pathogens.

Disease prevention

The following preventive measures are distinguished to protect piglets from plague:

• maintaining order inside the pigsty and in places for walking animals;
• regular disinfection of the premises;
• disinfection of drinking water for pigs and heat treatment of feed;
• vaccination against plague;
• fencing the pigsty with a fence so that foreign animals do not get into its territory;
• organization in the pigsty of a separate place for bathing animals.

Prevalence of CSF in Russia and worldwide

The disease is rare in the Russian Federation, as most piglets must be given special vaccinations. Most infected pigs were in 2010-2013. During this period of time, more than a million pigs were destroyed. Most often, distemper occurs in African countries, where pigs are vaccinated much less frequently.

Conclusion

Some farmers encounter plague while raising piglets. Therefore, before breeding such animals, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the description of such a virus, its symptoms and methods of prevention. This will help protect animals from getting plague.

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