Rabies and pigs
While rabies isn't always one of the more common diseases pigs contract, we thought it would be useful to have information about this virus so you can be sure to keep your pig safe from this life threatening illness. The reason you don't see a lot of rabid animals is because smaller rodents that have been bitten by a rabid animal typically do not survive the attack. Pigs would normally survive that attack. Any warm blooded mammal has the potential to contract rabies.
This is also included in the list of zoonotic diseases, but is often neglected when discussing diseases that can be spread from animal to person and vice-versa. Rabies is a zoonotic disease (a disease that is transmitted to humans from animals) that is caused by a virus. Rabies infects domestic and wild animals, and is spread to people through close contact with infected saliva (via bites or scratches) There have been at least 2 cases of pigs who tested positive for rabies. There is not a pig approved vaccination, but many vets use the rabies vaccine off label to protect pet pigs from any exposure. Although, there was a study done revealing that after given the vaccine, titers drawn DID show a response to the rabies vaccination. You can read more about that by clicking here.
If you prefer to download the PDF version, you can do so below.
This is also included in the list of zoonotic diseases, but is often neglected when discussing diseases that can be spread from animal to person and vice-versa. Rabies is a zoonotic disease (a disease that is transmitted to humans from animals) that is caused by a virus. Rabies infects domestic and wild animals, and is spread to people through close contact with infected saliva (via bites or scratches) There have been at least 2 cases of pigs who tested positive for rabies. There is not a pig approved vaccination, but many vets use the rabies vaccine off label to protect pet pigs from any exposure. Although, there was a study done revealing that after given the vaccine, titers drawn DID show a response to the rabies vaccination. You can read more about that by clicking here.
If you prefer to download the PDF version, you can do so below.
| rabies_summray_by_jean_dodds_summary.pdf |
The virus is usually present in the nerves and salvia of the symptomatic rabid animal. The route of infection is usually, but not always, by a bite. In many cases, the affected animal is exceptionally aggressive, may attack without provocation, and exhibits otherwise uncharacteristic behavior. This is an example of the viral pathogen modifying the behavior of its host to facilitate its transmission to other hosts.
Symptoms: The first symptoms of rabies are flu-like, including fever, headache and fatigue, and then progress to involve the respiratory, gastrointestinal and/or central nervous systems. In the critical stage, signs of hyperactivity, stumbling, typically foaming at the mouth (not to be confused with foam produced in anticipation of food that pigs normally have), sometimes aggression and bite savagely(furious rabies) or paralysis (neurological deficits such as incoordination, decreased muscle tone and reflexes, shifting lameness, or partial-to-complete paralysis)abnormally friendly, depression, inappetence difficulty eating/drinking/swallowing, profuse salivation, blindness, head-pressing, circling, vocalization, fever, strained defecation, increased sexual excitement/activity, or limp tail, anus, or tongue (dumb rabies) dominate. In both furious and dumb rabies, some paralysis eventually progresses to complete paralysis, followed by coma and death in all cases, usually due to breathing failure. Once symptoms of the disease develop, rabies is fatal. Without intensive care, death occurs during the first seven days of illness.
Clinical signs: After a variable incubation stage the bitten pig suddenly shows depression, develops difficulty in walking and becomes prostrated. Nose twitching, rapid chewing movements, excess salivation and muscular spasms which evolve into tremors follow. This sequence of clinical signs is termed dumb rabious. Death ensues in 3-6 days. The furious form of rabies, seen in dogs and foxes, has been reported in pigs but is rare. The pig shows the above signs but in addition becomes aggressive.
Treatment after exposure: Recommended treatment to prevent rabies depends on the category of the contact:
• Category I: touching or feeding suspect animals, but skin is intact
• Category II: minor scratches without bleeding from contact, or licks on broken skin
• Category III: one or more bites, scratches, licks on broken skin, or other contact that breaks the skin; or exposure to bats
Post-exposure care to prevent rabies includes cleaning and disinfecting a wound, or point of contact, and then administering anti-rabies immunisations as soon as possible. Anti-rabies vaccine is given for Category II and III exposures. Anti-rabies immunoglobin, or antibody, should be given for Category III contact, or to people with weaker immune systems. When humans are exposed to suspect animals, attempts to identify, capture or humanely sacrifice the animal involved should be undertaken immediately. Post-exposure treatment should start right away and only be stopped if the animal is a dog or cat and remains healthy after 10 days. Animals that are sacrificed or have died should be tested for the virus.
Again, there is no pig approved rabies vaccination, but my vet vaccinates to protect my pig. This protection isn't necessarily from rabid animals, but also in case my pig bites someone, having had been vaccinated, this will at least ease the minds of the persons investigating the pig bite although a pig would likely still need to be quarantined for a period of time, it isn't necessarily a death sentence like it is in other cases.
Unvaccinated animals exposed to a rabid animal should be euthanized immediately. If the owner is unwilling to have this done, the animal should be placed in strict isolation for 6 months and vaccinated 1 month before being released.
Government document confirming rabies in pigs: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/rabies
Another confirmed case of rabies in pigs: journals.sfu.ca/africanem/index.php/pigrabies
A confirmed rabid groundhog attacks a potbellied pig resulting in exposure to the pig: http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2016/07/rabid_animals_reported_in_old_bridge_spotswood.html
An article regarding vampire bats feeding on feral pigs: http://www.labroots.com/trending/health-and-medicine/4575/brazil-s-feral-pigs-spur-vampire-bat-boom-spreading-rabies
Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/pets/
https://www.oda.state.ok.us/rabiemanagementlivestock
Symptoms: The first symptoms of rabies are flu-like, including fever, headache and fatigue, and then progress to involve the respiratory, gastrointestinal and/or central nervous systems. In the critical stage, signs of hyperactivity, stumbling, typically foaming at the mouth (not to be confused with foam produced in anticipation of food that pigs normally have), sometimes aggression and bite savagely(furious rabies) or paralysis (neurological deficits such as incoordination, decreased muscle tone and reflexes, shifting lameness, or partial-to-complete paralysis)abnormally friendly, depression, inappetence difficulty eating/drinking/swallowing, profuse salivation, blindness, head-pressing, circling, vocalization, fever, strained defecation, increased sexual excitement/activity, or limp tail, anus, or tongue (dumb rabies) dominate. In both furious and dumb rabies, some paralysis eventually progresses to complete paralysis, followed by coma and death in all cases, usually due to breathing failure. Once symptoms of the disease develop, rabies is fatal. Without intensive care, death occurs during the first seven days of illness.
Clinical signs: After a variable incubation stage the bitten pig suddenly shows depression, develops difficulty in walking and becomes prostrated. Nose twitching, rapid chewing movements, excess salivation and muscular spasms which evolve into tremors follow. This sequence of clinical signs is termed dumb rabious. Death ensues in 3-6 days. The furious form of rabies, seen in dogs and foxes, has been reported in pigs but is rare. The pig shows the above signs but in addition becomes aggressive.
Treatment after exposure: Recommended treatment to prevent rabies depends on the category of the contact:
• Category I: touching or feeding suspect animals, but skin is intact
• Category II: minor scratches without bleeding from contact, or licks on broken skin
• Category III: one or more bites, scratches, licks on broken skin, or other contact that breaks the skin; or exposure to bats
Post-exposure care to prevent rabies includes cleaning and disinfecting a wound, or point of contact, and then administering anti-rabies immunisations as soon as possible. Anti-rabies vaccine is given for Category II and III exposures. Anti-rabies immunoglobin, or antibody, should be given for Category III contact, or to people with weaker immune systems. When humans are exposed to suspect animals, attempts to identify, capture or humanely sacrifice the animal involved should be undertaken immediately. Post-exposure treatment should start right away and only be stopped if the animal is a dog or cat and remains healthy after 10 days. Animals that are sacrificed or have died should be tested for the virus.
Again, there is no pig approved rabies vaccination, but my vet vaccinates to protect my pig. This protection isn't necessarily from rabid animals, but also in case my pig bites someone, having had been vaccinated, this will at least ease the minds of the persons investigating the pig bite although a pig would likely still need to be quarantined for a period of time, it isn't necessarily a death sentence like it is in other cases.
Unvaccinated animals exposed to a rabid animal should be euthanized immediately. If the owner is unwilling to have this done, the animal should be placed in strict isolation for 6 months and vaccinated 1 month before being released.
Government document confirming rabies in pigs: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/rabies
Another confirmed case of rabies in pigs: journals.sfu.ca/africanem/index.php/pigrabies
A confirmed rabid groundhog attacks a potbellied pig resulting in exposure to the pig: http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2016/07/rabid_animals_reported_in_old_bridge_spotswood.html
An article regarding vampire bats feeding on feral pigs: http://www.labroots.com/trending/health-and-medicine/4575/brazil-s-feral-pigs-spur-vampire-bat-boom-spreading-rabies
Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/pets/
https://www.oda.state.ok.us/rabiemanagementlivestock