A case of trichurosis in gilts and fattening pigs

Trichuris suis, also called whipworm, is a parasite of the caecum and colon distributed widely and considered as a fairly common parasite in swine. It may be responsible for porcine trichurosis characterized by diarrhoea, anorexia, growth retardation, dehydration, emaciation and anaemia.
This report presents a case of trichurosis diagnosed in a farrow-to-finish Belgian pig herd. The infection was associated with severe and persistent diarrhoea, growth retardation, emaciation and/or anaemia in 10 recently purchased gilts and in fattening pigs. In gilts, levamisole [8 mg/kg body weight] administered once per os gave a good clinical response, as diarrhoea resolved in nine gilts out of 10. In parallel, for these nine gilts, the number of eggs of T. suis/g faeces passed decreased from 12 400 to less than 100 eggs. In fattening pigs, flubendazole (1 mg/kg BW) administrated over 5 days in drinking water allowed a reduction in the number of T. suis eggs/g and was effective against diarrhoea.
Although most of the time pig whipworm infections are light and asymptomatic, in some cases when large numbers of worms are present, they can cause watery to bloody diarrhoea that can lead to anaemia. This less frequent disease should not be forgotten in the differential diagnosis of persistent diarrhoea in growing pigs.