Swine proliferative enteropathy: pathogenic aspects and main diagnostic technics

Abstract

Porcine proliferative enteropathy is an endemic worldwide disease, that causes enormous damage to the pig industry. Its agent is the bacteria Lawsonia intracellularis. This bacteria has several pathogenic mechanisms and, although well studied, many still remain unclear. Is can be manifested as acute, chronic or subclinical. This last one is usually underestimated but can cause average daily gain reduction and increase feed conversion ratio. Clinical signs may be very similar to other enteric diseases, requiring laboratory tests for diagnosis. To choose the best test, some points must be considered, as sample availability, laboratory capacity and infection stage of the animal. Then, this literature review was written about the disease, covering its main pathogenic aspects, clinical signs, lesions, and diagnostic technics.