Resumen

RAMIREZ, Oneyda J; BOULANGER, Andrés; RODRIGUEZ, Carolina  y  SOGBE, Elías. Parasitic Pneumonia Associated to Porcine Metastrongylosis: Case Report. Rev. Fac. Cienc. Vet. [online]. 2006, vol.47, n.1, pp.3-8. ISSN 0258-6576.

Nowadays, respiratory diseases cause important economic losses to the swine industry. Even though parasitic infections can induce respiratory lesions, these have not been considered an important cause within the complex of respiratory diseases. Metastrongylosis is not a frequent disease. There are not reports of the existence of this disease in Venezuela because the diagnosis using traditional methods is usually ineffective. The present paper reports an outbreak of parasitic pneumonia associated with metastrongylosis in a porcine farm in Venezuela, in which the use of histopathological methods was useful for the definite diagnosis. A multi-site (three sites) operation farm (2500 sows) located in the central region of the country, reported respiratory disease in fattening pigs with low growth performance. Before the onset of clinical signs, the farm had no history of porcine respiratory syndrome (PRRS), Aujeszky’s disease, swine influenza, hemorrhagic pleuroneumonia, or active Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae infection. The clinical examination confirmed the presence of respiratory disturbances characterized by cough and sneeze. Serological tests for the most important pathogens  (Aujeszky’s virus, swine influenza, virus [HINI], and Actinobacillus pleuroneumoniae) were negative. The serological profile for Mycoplasma infection showed no activity of  the agent. Slaughterhouse surveillance was carried out and lung samples were collected for histopathological studies, showing atelectasis and emphysemas, sincitial cells with mononuclear exudates, pleuritis, and intraparenchymal granulomatous reactions with parasitic structure debris. A whole parasitic structure was seen in the lumen of bronchi and bronchioles, which confirmed the presence Metastrongylus spp. Morbidity reached 20% and mortality was less than 2%. Further evaluations were made in the farm confirming the presence of earthworms inside the fattening pens. This may have played an important role in the transmission of the parasite. Examination of the deworming  plan was made to control parasitism.

Palabras clave : Swine; pneumonia; Metastrongylus; histopathology.