Abstract
In a swinary in Kagoshima Prefecture, 6 piglets, 46 days old, had diarrhea with a poor appetite, and as a result became too thin. They were treated but no effect was obtained on their conditions. Then, 2 piglets were sacrified at the age of 55 days to evamine the cause of diarrhea.
Hematologically, there were increases in the number of neutrophils, hematocrit value and serum level of total protein. No helminthic eggs were detected as a result of the fecal examination and trichomonads were not isolated from the feces. Bacteriologically, 105cfu/g of Escherichia coli was isolated from the cecum and 108cfu/g from the colon of the two piglets. From the cecum of one, 103cfu/g of Campylobacter hyointestinalis was isolated. The rota virus antigen was negative in the feces and intestinal mucosa. At necropsy, there were observed numerous white nodes in the epithelium and thickened mucous membrane in the colon and cecum, as well as swelling of the mesenteric lymph nodes. Histologically, degeneration, desquamation and necrosis of the mucous epithelial cells, hyperplasia of intestinal crypts, suppuration and necrosis of submucosa, and numerous trichomonads in intestinal crypts were evident in the colon and cecum. The trichomonads were circular, oval or crescent in shape and had a mean size of 11.0μm long and 3.5, um wide. They were identified as Tritrichomonas suis from their size, positive reaction to PAS and darkbrown staining by the Warthin starry metnods. Electron microscopy revealed that the trichomonads had 3 anterior flagella and an undulating membrane. These results suggest that the present cases occurred in relation to trichomonad infection. Antibodies to trichomonads, which were examined by the indirect immunofluorescent technique on 8 farms, were positive in 6 farms (75.0%) and 17 of 44 pigs (38.6%), suggesting that trichomonads are prevalent on the swinaries to an extensive extent.
