Abstract
Swine Dysentery (SD) is a severe mucohaemorhagic enteric disease of pigs caused by Brachyspira hyodysenteriae, which has a large impact on pig production and causes important losses due to mortality and sub-optimal performance. Although B. hyodysenteriae has been traditionally considered a pathogen mainly transmitted by direct contact, through the introduction of subclinically infected animals into a previously uninfected herd, recent findings position B. hyodysenteriae as a potential threat for indirect transmission between farms. This article summarizes the knowledge available on the etiological agent of SD and its virulence traits, and reviews the determinants of SD transmission. The between-herds and within-herd transmission routes are addressed. The factors affecting disease transmission are thoroughly discussed, i.e., environmental survival of the pathogen, husbandry factors (production system, production stage, farm management), role of vectors, diet influence and interaction of the microorganism with gut microbiota. Finally, prophylactic and therapeutic approaches to fight against the disease are briefly described.
Highlights
Swine Dysentery (SD) is a severe mucohaemorhagic enteric disease of pigs which has a large impact on pig production, with important losses caused by mortality and sub-optimal performance with reduced feed conversion and gain weight indexes [1]
B. hyodysenteriae has been traditionally considered a pathogen mainly transmitted by direct contact, through the introduction of subclinically infected animals into a previously uninfected herd [19]
B. hyodysenteriae strains with reduced susceptibility to one or more of these antibiotics and the presence of genetically diverse multiresistant isolates has been confirmed in several countries [90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98]
Summary
Swine Dysentery (SD) is a severe mucohaemorhagic enteric disease of pigs which has a large impact on pig production, with important losses caused by mortality and sub-optimal performance with reduced feed conversion and gain weight indexes [1]. It is important to note that recent reports have associated clinical dysentery with infection by strongly beta-hemolytic Brachyspira spp. that are not confirmed as B. hyodysenteriae by PCR and gene sequencing [15,16]. This includes the recently described species Brachyspira hampsonii [17]. The factors affecting disease transmission are thoroughly discussed, i.e., environmental survival of the pathogen, husbandry factors
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