Archive Case #231: Swine Salt Toxicity

Clinical Clues

1. Several grower pigs in one pen develop intermittent neurological signs over a short period.
2. Affected pigs circle, appear blind, press their heads and sometimes have seizures.
3. The illness followed a waterer failure lasting about two days while the pigs continued eating their usual ration.
4. The worst signs became apparent after the water supply was restored; a feverish contagious syndrome is not evident.
5. Blood collected before fluid treatment shows marked hypernatraemia, consistent with the water-deprivation history.
6. Together the water interruption, neurological pattern and sodium finding support swine salt toxicity, also called water-deprivation sodium-ion toxicosis.

Diagnosis

Swine Salt Toxicity

The pen-wide water interruption, neurological signs and pretreatment hypernatraemia support swine salt toxicity. Streptococcal meningitis and oedema disease can cause neurological signs, but the shared water failure and sodium result provide a stronger explanation; normal ration salt does not exclude this condition. Remember: In pigs with neurological signs, check water access and when sodium was measured; deprivation alone can cause salt toxicity on an ordinary ration.

Educational Use

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