Pleuropneumonia in swine caused by Haemophilus parahaemolyticus. A study of the epidemiology of the infection

Abstract

Haemophilus parahaemolyticus infection was studied in a herd with continuous production, i.e., continuous introduction of stock to replace animals delivered for slaughter. None of 30 seronegative pigs contracted the infection when exposed to contact with two pigs that were seropositive after inoculation with H. Parahaemolyticus three weeks earlier. After aerosol infection had been applied in the building an acute outbreak with a morbidity rate of 100 per cent developed in less than 24 hours. Following recovery the majority of the 16 pigs present became seropositive, and when 30 seronegative pigs were introduced 7 weeks later, antibody response occurred in three of them. The persistence of H. parahaemolyticus in pigs that had been infected during the acute outbreak was confirmed at slaughter, in that the organism was re-isolated from the tonsils of 2 of these pigs. Most serum titres persisted for several months, but some animals showed just a transient antibody response.