The Animal Health Laboratory at the University of Guelph is cautioning
people who work with pigs to beware of catching leptospirosis, a disease that
can pass between pigs and people.
Lab technicians identified three suspected cases of Leptospirosis at the
Animal Health Laboratory (AHL) at the University of Guelph between July and
September, the lab said in a news release.
At AHL, the infected sows had late-term abortions or
delivered litters of mostly stillborn piglets.
The lab advises farmers to draw blood samples for
analysis if their sows have more abortions of stillbirths. The lab will help
producers to identify which animals ought to be tested.
“An entire aborted litter can be frozen and submitted
to the lab,” says the report from the Ontario Animal Health Network.
If test results confirm that an animal is infected
with Leptospirosis, veterinarians may recommend treating swine with
oxytetracycline or chlorotetracycline, said Christa Arsenault of the animal
health network.
“These antibiotics can be prescribed to be included in
the feed to treat a group of animals or as an injectable given to individual
animals,” she said.
“Treatment can assist with controlling the spread of
infection within a swine herd.”
Producers may also want to consider prevention
strategies, such as “ensuring that a commercially approved vaccine is given
routinely to both gilts and sows at the time of re-breeding,” she said.
“Rodent control is also an important component to the
prevention of Leptospirosis.”
