An epidemiological survey on pigs showing symptoms of infectious enteric diseases and dyspepsia in Japan.

Diarrhea in pigs has the potential to have a serious economic impact on the swine industry. Previously, we suggested that the likely cause of the presence of non-infectious diarrhea in pigs characterized by lactate accumulation was dyspepsia. In this experiment, the prevalence of enteropathogens and hyper-lactate accumulation in feces of piglets in 4 distinct growth stages was examined. The feces were collected when veterinarian experts recognized abnormalities in sporadic outbreaks. Prevalence of enteropathogens in diarrheal feces was 100% in fattening pigs (FP), 75% in weaning pigs (WP), 50% in suckling pigs (SP), and 42% in growing pigs (GP). Prevalence of enteropathogens in loose feces was 53% in WP, 50% in SP, 40% in FP, and 28% in GP. Prevalence of hyper-lactate accumulation in diarrheal feces was 33% in GP, 33% in SP, 25% in WP, and 25% in FP. Prevalence of hyper-lactate accumulation in loose feces was 40% in GP, 0% in SP, 7% in WP, and 5% in FP. Accordingly, non-infectious dyspepsia is frequent in growing pigs. In this period, pigs are potentially exposed to needless antimicrobial therapeutic treatments in sporadic cases.