by Karoline Inong

Created on: June 12, 2009

There are six different species of brucella but the one that causes brucellosis in pigs is the Brucella suis bacterium. It is consider to be a important disease in the industry because of the fact that some of the strains of this disease can essentially be transmitted to humans and can cause serious illness.

You can basically think of it as an STD among swine because the it typically is transmitted by a venereal infection but can also be infected by the conjunctiva, through the nose or by the mouth. A hare in Northern Europe can also be infected and in this case is considered a natural host. Sows too can be carriers of the brucellosis bacterium. The boar is usually the source of infection by either direct contact if you use natural mating or selection in your herd, or simply by artificial insemination where it essentially excreted in the semen. The brucellosis organism can survive outside the pig's body for long periods of time, usually at or near freezing temperatures.

The symptoms of brucellosis in pigs basically includes infertility and abortions that can occur at any time. Typically if the sow is infected by the boar at mating, the abortions typically occur early and it is often before day 35. Delayed returns are often experienced in infected sows. The sows that abort after day 30 may also show a bloody vaginal discharge that typically will contain high numbers of organisms. In piglets still suckling and those that are weaned, the Brucella suis bacterium can infect their bones and soft tissues causing paralysis of the hind legs. Of course if a sow is a carrier, they often remain that way for long periods of time.

As for treatment of brucellosis, there really isn't any. If you try to give antibiotics, you will get a poor response from them and therefore shouldn't be tried. Pigs that are infected with brucellosis should be destroyed. If your whole herd comes down with brucellosis, the best thing to do is slaughter the whole herd, clean up your farm, and then restock with brucellosis free pigs. Another approach basically includes the repeat of blood tests with the removal of positive reactors for the whole herd. This approach however, may only be effective if only a few pigs of your herd are infected otherwise it tends to be unsuccessful if many of the pigs are positive. In a number of countries along with the United States, they are making an effort to gradually eliminate brucellosis mostly by slaughtering herds in which the brucellosis organism is diagnosed.

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