Porcine Erysipelas Study Guide

Overview and Clinical Importance

Erysipelas (also known as diamond skin disease) is an infectious disease of swine caused by the bacterium Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae. This is one of the oldest recognized diseases affecting growing and adult swine, with worldwide distribution. The disease manifests in acute, subacute, and chronic forms, causing significant economic losses through mortality, carcass condemnation at slaughter, reduced growth rates, and reproductive failure.

Erysipelas is an important NAVLE topic due to its pathognomonic diamond-shaped skin lesions, zoonotic potential (causing erysipeloid in humans), and multisystemic nature affecting skin, joints, heart, and reproductive system. An estimated 30 to 50 percent of healthy pigs carry the organism in their tonsils, making eradication impossible.

Etiology

Causative Agent

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae is a gram-positive, non-spore-forming, non-motile, facultatively anaerobic rod-shaped bacterium. The organism was first isolated by Robert Koch in 1876 and recognized as the cause of swine erysipelas shortly thereafter.