Researchers with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine report progress in identifying the factors that cause ear tip necrosis.
Ear tip necrosis is a common condition that typically affects pigs after weaning where the tip of the ear turns necrotic, leading to partial or complete loss of the ear and, while many multiple theories, the cause is unknown.
Dr. Matheus Costa, an Assistant Professor with the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine, said that scientists could replicate the initial lesions under a controlled environment for the first time using samples collected from infected pigs. It gives them a model at least to start exploring and looking deeper into this question.
“One finding showed that in our lesions, what we used for the inoculum, we could not identify any relevant viruses. We did not identify PCV2, we did not identify PRRS virus or any other relevant swine virus, but we did identify a group of bacteria that could be pathogenic.”
The researchers don’t know if one of those alone is the main trigger, but there were different bacteria detected, and they all seem to have the tools to initiate the lesion, so that’s very exciting.
It’s a matter of exploring
A] which one of those bacteria or what group of bacteria these initial lesions require.
B] what other triggers are necessary to continue with the disease to cornify to the point of actual ear loss.
Dr. Costa acknowledges the animal health implications of ear necrosis are minimal, and it doesn’t tend to impact performance, but it has animal welfare implications that need addressing. •
— By Harry Siemens