The Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network reports a rare condition that attacks newborn piglets was identified in the region in the first quarter of this year.
The Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network’s swine disease surveillance report for the first quarter of 2023 highlight’s a case of Congenital thrombocytopenia diagnosed in Manitoba that killed a litter of piglets.
CWSHIN Manager Dr. Jette Christensen says this is an extremely rare condition that hits piglets shortly after birth.
They’re born normal but within 48 hours or maybe a few days they turn all purple and bleeding and die. This is due to some kind of combination between the sow and the boar where the sows start to produce antibodies against the pigs if the fetal blood comes from the pigs in utero into the sow’s bloodstream. Once the pigs start nursing, they get these antibodies against themselves and they die.
We have a bit of the same principle with Rhesus negative (mother) and Rhesus positive (child) in humans. Pregnant women will be tested for Rhesus to make sure that they’re not negative and the child is positive – a similar issue.
It was one litter that caused the discussion this time around and, once you start talking about it at the calls, it’s seen very sporadically. One other practitioner had seen it recently. Another practitioner said he’s seen two or three cases a year, so it’s still very rare but it’s out there.
~ Dr. Jette Christensen, Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network
Some of the practitioners said that you might be able to save the piglets if you can move them to another sow quickly enough, but that’s really the key point, quickly enough. Dr. Christensen says in the case in Manitoba the condition was diagnosed in four pigs, the entire litter died and the sow was culled.
