An Outbreak of Classical Swine Fever in Indigenous Pigs in Tamilnadu, India

Classical swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease of swine causing economic losses due to heavy mortality and reproductive problems. The present study was conducted at Nakalapuram village, Villathikulam taluk of Thoothukudi District, Tamilnadu where there was a suspected outbreak of swine fever among the indigenous pigs reared under scavenging system. Ninety pigs out of one hundred and ten pigs of all age groups without any vaccination died within two to three days period. The ailing animals showed clinical signs such as high fever, staggering gait, frothy excessive salivation, severe respiratory distress, paddling of legs with convulsions followed by death. The post mortem examination was carried out in two pigs and the histopathological examination was carried out on representative necropsy samples like liver, spleen, kidney and mesenteric lymph node. Based on the necropsy findings such as haemorrhagic lymphadenitis, petechial haemorrhages in kidney and spleen and by NS5B gene based RT-PCR the disease was confirmed as classical swine fever.