PREVALENCE OF GASTRIC LESION IN PIGS

Abstract

Gastric lesions are a common problem in intensive pig production and it is often detected at slaughter. The current study aims to evaluate the prevalence of gastric lesions in finishing and breeding pigs at the time of slaughter. It was conducted in a slaughterhouse in Franca region – Sao Paulo State, from October to November 2013 and in July 2014. Four hundred (400) stomachs from slaughtered pigs were analyzed for the presence of macroscopic lesions suggesting gastric ulcer. Scores from 0 to 4 were attributed to the stomachs depending on the extent of the lesions, namely: score 0- Normal stomach; score 1- stomach showing parakeratosis; score 2- stomach showing active or chronic ulcer covering less than 33% of the Pars oesophagea ; score 3- stomach showing active or chronic ulcer covering from 33 to 66% of the Pars oesophagea ; score 4- stomach showing active or chronic ulcer covering more than 66% of the Pars oesophagea . Score-3 lesions – i.e., lesions showing active or chronic ulcer covering from 33 to 66% of the Pars oesophagea - were most frequently found, thus corresponding to 43.2% (173/400) of the evaluated organs. Few stomachs (5/400) showed intact mucosae, i.e., they were score 0, and corresponded to 1.25% of the evaluated stomachs. It was concluded that the prevalence of gastric lesions in pigs from intensive system pig farm was 98.75% and that the active or chronic ulcer covering from 33 to 66% of the Pars oesophagea was the most frequently found lesion.