Dietary induction of mulberry heart disease and hepatosis dietetica in pigs. I. Nutritional aspects.

Two trials were conducted, involving 48 Yorkshire specific pathogen-free pigs, three to four weeks old, to investigate diets which would result in a high incidence of deaths from mulberry heart disease and hepatosis dietetica in pigs. Diets based on ground corn with torula yeast resulted in a high incidence of death. Protein supplements of dried skim milk or soybean meal with corn did not induce a high incidence of death. Diets supplemented with torula yeast had the lowest selenium concentration and highest (alpha-)tocopherol concentration of the diets investigated and resulted in lower liver selenium concentrations. A higher frequency of hepatosis dietetica, mulberry heart disease, skeletal muscle degeneration and exudative diathesis was observed in pigs fed the low level selenium diets containing torula yeast.