An atypical porcine proliferative enteropathy of malgrowth piglets

Abstract

Two 60-day-old pigs showing clinical signs of malgrowth and diarrhea were diagnosed as atypical porcine proliferative enteropathy (PPE). The intestinal mucosal lesions in the piglets were characterized by the adenomatous proliferation of the crypt epithelium together with growth of small curved bacteria within the enterocytes. The lesions could be seen in the ileum and other portions of the intestine histologically, although no significant thickening of the gut wall could be observed grossly in the present case. The macroscopic findings are extremely important for the diagnosis of PPE, however, this paper shows that the histopathological and/or immunohis-tochemical findings were also critical to identify the disease.