Abstract:

Unusual Streptococcus suis type 2 disease on two farms feeding incorrectly formulated nursery feed (Case report)

Steven D. Drum, DVM, MS; Lorraine J. Hoffman, MS, PhD

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Pigs on two separate farms, ranging in age from 28-35 days, sufferedan outbreak of Streptococcus suis serotype 2 disease. Aerobic bacterialculture from necropsied pigs yielded pure growth of S. suis serotype2 from the lumen of the small intestine. Pigs on both farms were fed thesame commercially milled and mixed ground corn/soy stage-2 postweaning feed,which contained a flavor-enhanced vitamin premix included at 58.5 g perkg of feed instead of the normal 3.5 g per kg. In addition, the salt normallyadded to the ration was inadvertently omitted. Affected pigs were founddead in their pens with no promontory central nervous system signs observed.The predominant clinical sign noted on both farms was a mild diarrhea ina small percentage of pigs. Necropsied pigs revealed gross intestinal lesionsconsistent with coliform enteritis. Despite treatment with spectinomycinin the drinking water at 6.7 mg per mL, sporadic deaths continued for severaldays until the owner of one farm discovered the feed formulation error.Misformulated feed was then removed from all farms and S. suis deathsabated.

Keywords: streptococcus suis, feed

Cite as: Drum SD, Hoffman LJ. Unusual Streptococcus suis type 2 disease on two farms feeding incorrectly formulated nursery feed (Case report). J Swine Health Prod 1998;6(5):217-218.

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