Diarrhoea in a small-scale pig herd

In this episode, Claire Scott, APHA's Pig Expert Group lead, and Liz Nabb, Veterinary Investigation Officer (VIO) at Starcross Veterinary Investigation Centre (VIC), discuss completion of a diagnostic investigation into a case of diarrhoea in a small-scale pig herd.

Please note that this podcast includes pathological descriptions of injuries and animal disease which some listeners may find upsetting. 

This episode was recorded in August 2025.

Useful links: 

1. Find out how vets can submit farm animals in England and Wales for a post-mortem examination and check if the submission is eligible for free carcase collection. 
2. Find your nearest Veterinary Investigation Centre (VIC) or surveillance pathology partner. 
3. Find out how vets can submit samples from farm animals in England and Wales for diagnostic submissions. 

This case was also described, with a picture, in the disease surveillance in England and Wales (November 2024) report which is published in the Vet Record. You can read more about prevention, diagnosis and management of swine dysentery for the general farm animal practitioner, which was published in In Practice. The APHA's interactive B. hyodysenteriae MLST dashboard provides information on different sequence types of B. hyodysenteriae isolated from pigs in Great Britain. There is AHDB information on swine dysentery and pig keepers are encouraged to sign up to the AHDB Pork’s Significant Diseases Charter, which anonymously informs participating pig keepers of new swine dysentery outbreaks. A useful paper describes implementation and evaluation of different eradication strategies for B. hyodysenteriae.

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