Intestinal congestion with watery content. Undigested feed in stomach. - Atlas of swine pathology

Where:

Possible causes: ColibacillosisSalmonellosisStreptococcal infectionsSwine dysentery

Colibacillosis

Sudden deaths at the beginning of the fattening stage.  No fever, and feed intake is maintained. Animals found with sunken eyes, a sign of dehydration. Some sudden deaths due to toxemia. Stomach appears full of feed, since death is caused by toxemia and there is no fever. The intestine shows high level of congestion of the serosa. Very watery bowel content.

The differential diagnosis should include:

• Streptococcal meningitis, the differential pattern being that the animals present a high fever, while with colibacillosis there is no fever.
• Salmonella where liquid diarrhea and dehydration appear, but there is little feed intake due to the fever.
• Brachyspira, where we will observe growth retardation and dehydration, with some loose feces, but it only affects the large intestine.
• In cases caused by the presence of mycotoxins, diarrhea and some congestion in the intestine can be observed, but the main lesions are in the liver and kidney.