A report of swine erysipelas in a litter of piglets.

Out of a litter of 7 two-week old Landrace piglets, 6 developed cutaneous haemorrhages especially on the limbs and ears. Two of these piglets died within 24 hours of the haemorrhages appearing whilst the other 4 recovered following penicillin therapy. The histopathological lesions were centred around the smaller vessels of the dermis and hypodermis. These included hyperaemia, leukostasis and intravascular fibrin coagulation or thrombosis. Bacterial emboli were present within the vessels of the skin, spleen, liver and kidney and loose in the areolar tissue of the dermis and hypodermis. Other lesions included scattered but extensive dermal and hypodermal haemorrhages and a mild cellular infiltration of the dermis and hypodermis.