Postweaning Diarrhea, Meningitis And Infertility Are Emerging Threats To Pig Industry In Kenya

Abstract

In Kenya, protecting pig health is a major challenge to diagnosticians, practitioners and farmers alike due to lack of efficient information on pig diseases in the region. This presentation aims at providing such information on unique disease problems encountered between February 2005 and March 2006. All pig carcasses presented for necropsy in the Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology were examined and samples collected and analysed in order to establish a definitive diagnosis. Prevalence of unique cases was determined through a 5 - year retrospective study on post - mortem records. Nine pigs (15.8%) were diagnosed as post - weaning diarrhea caused by Escherichia coli . Leptomeningitis, caused by Strept ococcus spp, was diagnosed in 2 pigs, while tetanus and salt poisoning caused death to one case each. Streptococcus spp was isolated from three vaginal swabs of pigs with low conception rate and Listeria spp isolated from an aborted fetus. In the records, post - weaning diarrhea killed 18 cases (16.4%), meningitis none (0%), while 21 cases (19.1%) of abortions/still births remain unresolved. This suggests presence of previously unreported disease problems on pig farms in Kenya. Therefore, there is need to en hance our diagnostic capacity in order to cope with these emerging diseases