Todayโs path rounds are on ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ!
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
๐๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ is an infection of the ๐ง๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ญ๐๐ฌ, the filtration system of the nose. In this disease, the nasal turbinates become ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐ข๐๐ (smaller) and malformed, which keeps them from doing their air-filtering job effectively.
๐๐ก๐จ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
This disease is seen in pigs!
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
There are actually two causes of atrophic rhinitis: ๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ and ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐จ๐๐ข๐๐, which are both bacteria.
Bordetella causes ๐ง๐จ๐ง-๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐ atrophic rhinitis, which is not typically a huge concern on pig farms. Pasteurella, on the other hand, causes ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐ atrophic rhinitis, which is a big concern! Because this disease will continue to get worse and worse, these pigs are often severely affected, and may succumb to their lesions. Pasteurella causes such severe disease because it produces a ๐๐ฒ๐ญ๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ฑ๐ข๐ง (cell-killing toxin) that specifically targets the cells of the nasal turbinates.
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ?
The main issue with atrophic rhinitis is that the pigs feel pretty crummy! Especially in severely affected pigs, you will often see sneezing, nasal discharge, nosebleeds and even pneumonias associated with this disease. These pigs often are described as ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐, because they often feel so crummy they stop eating, drinking, and generally doing normal pig things.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฌ๐๐?
Besides the clinical signs described previously, severely affected pigs often have a distorted snout, where the nose points towards the more severely affected side. So if a veterinarian comes into a barn of pigs with twisty noses, they already have a pretty good idea of whatโs going on! At necropsy, one of the easiest methods for diagnosis is sectioning the nose so you can compare the two nasal turbinates. On these sections, the normally scroll-shaped turbinates will be distorted or even missing!
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐? ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐?
Unfortunately there arenโt many treatment options for these pigs, so control strategies are the best bet. Typically, veterinarians will recommend strategies that improve the hygiene and management of the pigs, to help control the disease. There are also vaccines that can be given to both the sows and young piglets to help boost their immune system against these particular bacteria, before the disease occurs. Neat!
๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ฌ
1) A pig with a twisted snout. Poor piggie!
2-4) An interesting series of images from an experimental study. The first one is an unaffected pig, showing the lovely scroll-shaped turbinates. The second image is a moderately affected pig, followed by a severely affected pig. Poor turbinates!
5-7) More examples of moderately to severely affected pigs at necropsy.
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ
Maxie, G. Jubb, Kennedy and Palmerโs Pathology of Domestic Animals, Volume 2. Sixth Edition.
Dee, SA. Atrophic rhinitis in pigs. Merck veterinary manual, 2014.
Photos 1-7 ยฉ Noahโs Arkive contributors Ramos, Williams, Jakowski, Tyler, King licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
