Problems of interpretation of ileal lesions in New Zealand slaughter pigs (abstract)

Authors: Christensen NH
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 40, Issue 1, pp 34, Mar 1992
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Livestock, Pig, Production animal
Subject Terms: Abdomen, Alimentary system/gastroenterology, Bacterial, Biosecurity, Diagnostic procedures, Disease surveillance, Inflammation, Disease/defect, Pathology, Slaughter
Article class: Abstract

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Abstract: The term proliferative enteritis (PE) is a collective one used to describe a group of related diseases characterised by adenomatous intestinal epithelium frequently seen to contain intra-cellular campylobacter-like organisms. It embraces four related disease syndromes, porcine intestinal adenomatosis (PIA), necrotic enteritis (NE), regional ileitis and proliferative haemorrhagic enteropathy (PHE), all affecting mainly the terminal ileum.
Since PE affects pigs mainly in the 6-24 week age range, abattoir surveys could be used to estimate its prevalence. In New Zealand, lesions of the terminal ileum have been detected in about 300 of 5000 pigs from 70 herds examined at slaughter. However, further examination has shown the presence of PE in only about 50 of these.
There is considerable potential for misdiagnosis of PE under slaughterhouse conditions because the cerebriform appearance of the intestinal surface typical of PE has to be differentiated from normal post-slaughter intestinal contraction. The latter yields to digital pressure, whilst the folds of PE do not.
Recovery from uncomplicated PE occurs quickly, as new, differentiated epithelium grows up from the crypts. There is therefore only a limited period of time during which typical proliferative changes are present in the individual pig.
Chronic inflammatory changes in the intestinal mucosa, culminating in the development of macroscopic abscesses, produce mucosal thickening grossly similar to the proliferative change characteristic of PE. These changes occur in pigs showing evidence of poor performance from herds known to have PE and from those in which PE has never been diagnosed.
Proliferative haemorrhagic enteropathy is frequently fatal, and so is a less common finding in slaughter surveys.

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