Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (APP)

1. DESCRIPTION:

Actinobacillus causes severe pleuropneumonia which is a highly contagious disease in swine which caused fibrinous pleurisy and pneumonia. The disease is often characterized by highly contagious and often fatal respiratory disease.

2. ETIOLOGY:

The etiologic agent of APP is Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. The organism is a hemolytic, Gram-negative, capsulated, coccobacillary rod, highly host-specific for swine. Strains vary in virulence and pathogenicity.

3. CLINICAL SIGNS:

Three clinical forms of APP are recognized.

  • Acute form:

APP cause dyspnea, acute pleuropneumonia accompanied with abscess and infected swine may die within 6 – 12 hours with blood-stained froth at the mouth. Mortality may reach up to 15%.

  • Subacute form:

Mild fever from 41oC, accompanied by shortness of breath, wheezing and signs of cyanosis can be seen from ears or other part of the body where skin regions is relatively thin. Eyes are usually shown colour red, which is usually to be mistaken to cholera. Opaque nasal discharge with blood.

  • Chronic form:

The early signs include sudden onset of prostration, high temperatures, apathy, anorexia, stiffness, and perhaps vomiting and diarrhea. A shallow, nonproductive cough is occasionally present.

4. PREVENTION:

Hygiene prevention:

  • Be more attentive to the herds especially when season changes and weather changes.
  • Avoid stress and overcrowding.
  • Herds on premises free of APP should be managed as closed herds since introduced swine may be carriers. Swine necessarily introduced should be from APP-free herds. They should be introduced only after testing before and following a quarantine period of at least 30 days.
  • Management factors of importance in prevention include all in/all out production with careful cleaning and disinfection between farrowing, avoidance of overstocking, proper ventilation, and elimination or control of predisposing diseases.
  • Quarantine incoming breeding pigs for a minimum of three and optimum of six weeks and inspect them daily.

Vaccination:

Vaccinate in accordance to manufacturers’ instruction.

Preventive measures:

  • Frequently apply disinfectant to clean the husbandry and surrounding area.
  • Consider prophylactic medication for a period of time to proactively prevent diseases. Select from one the the following antibiotics:

FLOMAX 1 kg / 500 kg of feed / day.
TIAMULIN 1 kg / 1 ton of feed / day.

Mix one of the above products into feed every 25-30 days for a period of 4 – 5 days consecutively.

5. TREATMENT:

In an acute outbreak examine the at-risk group three times daily to identify disease as early as possible. It may be necessary to inject the whole group. Select from one of the following products:

FLO 45 LA 1 ml / 15 kg of b.w, administer twice / day.
GENTAMAX 1 - 2 ml / 15 kg of b.w, administer twice / day.
AMOXCYCLA LA 1 ml /20 kg of b.w, administer twice / day.
LINCOSPEC 1 ml / 10 kg of b.w, administer twice / day.


The decision to inject is a balance decision between effective treatment and the risk of more disease due to the stress. Therefore, during treatment, it is recommended to use the following recommended products to enhance the animals’ natural resistance by supplying nutrition and relieve stress.

 

Know-How, Swine