Prevalence of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Actinobacillus suis, Haemophilus parasuis, Pasteurella multocida, and Streptococcus suis in representative Ontario swine herds.

Tonsillar and nasal swabs were collected from weanling pigs in 50 representative Ontario swine herds and tested for the presence of 5 important bacterial upper respiratory tract pathogens. All but 1 herd (2%) tested positive for Streptococcus suis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR); 48% of herds were S. suis serovar 2, 1/2 positive. In all but 2 herds there was evidence of Haemophilus parasuis infection. In contrast, toxigenic strains of Pasteurella multocida were detected by a P. multocida--enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (PMT-ELISA) in only one herd. Seventy-eight percent of the herds were diagnosed positive for Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae by apxIV PCR. Sera from finishing pigs on the same farms were also collected and tested by ELISA for the presence of A. pleuropneumoniae antibodies. Seventy percent of the herds tested had evidence of antibodies to A. pleuropneumoniae including serovars 1-9-11 (2%), 2 (4%), 3-6-8-15 (15%), 5 (6%), 4-7 (26%), and 12 (17%). This likely represents a shift from previous years when infection with A. pleuropneumoniae serovars 1, 5, and 7 predominated. At least 16% and possibly as many as 94% of the herds tested were Actinobacillus suis positive; only 3 of the 50 herds were both A. pleuropneumoniae and A. suis negative as judged by the absence of a positive PCR test for apxII. Taken together, these data suggest that over the past 10 years, there has been a shift in the presence of pathogenic bacteria carried by healthy Ontario swine with the virtual elimination of toxigenic strains of P. multocida and a move to less virulent A. pleuropneumoniae serovars. As well, there appears to be an increase in prevalence of S. suis serovar 2, 1/2, but this may be a reflection of the use of a more sensitive detection method.