How do I identify and prevent diseases in pigs?
There are a range of parasites and diseases that can seriously affect the health and productivity of pigs; many can spread from pig to pig and from one herd to another.
Local Land Services district vets can offer advice on a range of livestock diseases.
Recognising exotic diseases in pigs
Some pig diseases are exotic to Australia and ‘notifiable’ under NSW legislation. This means you must notify authorities immediately if you know or suspect that an animal has one of these diseases.
Notifiable pig diseases include African swine fever, Aujeszky's disease virus, Brucella suis, Bungowannah virus, classical swine fever, Influenza A viruses, foot and mouth disease, and others.
The Australian agricultural industry is internationally recognised as being free from devastating diseases that plague livestock industries in other countries. The introduction of exotic diseases such as classical swine fever and African swine fever would cause serious production losses to Australia’s pig industry and jeopardise export markets for pig products.
If you see clinical signs or deaths in animals, call Local Land Services on 1300 795 299 or the Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline on 1800 675 888.
Read more about identifying classical swine fever (hog cholera) and African swine fever (NSW DPI factsheet).
Keep Exotic Pig Diseases Out
Exotic animal diseases are infectious diseases that do not occur in Australia. Pigs are ‘high risk’ animals for exotic diseases through the feeding of prohibited substances (swill) containing exotic viruses. The diseases most likely to be introduced into Australia through illegal swill feeding are foot and mouth disease (FMD), African swine fever (ASF), and classical swine fever (CSF).
Pig producers play an important role in preventing the introduction and spread of exotic diseases. It is important that you:
- know what swill is
- don’t feed swill to pigs
- know the symptoms of FMD, ASF and CSF
- report any unusual or suspect disease signs.
Download the factsheet Four steps to keep exotic pig diseases out (NSW DPI) PDF, 2126.65 KB