{"id":185965,"date":"2017-08-03T13:17:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-03T03:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=185965"},"modified":"2020-08-31T18:09:21","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T08:09:21","slug":"piggers-warned-about-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/08\/03\/piggers-warned-about-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Piggers Warned About Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Feral pigs are found in every State and Territory in Australia (Photo: Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 3, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Richard Malik and Siobhan Mor<\/strong><\/p>\n

A disease called swine brucellosis is endemic to feral pigs in Queensland and is now emerging in NSW.<\/p>\n

It can be transmitted to humans and their hunting dogs through blood contact with infected pigs.<\/p>\n

Recreational pig hunting in rural Australia is a widespread control method for the roughly 24 million feral pigs who call Australia home.<\/p>\n

The ethics of this undertaking is open to debate \u2013 many authorities consider poisoning more efficient and more ethical than hunting. But regardless of this controversy, the emergence of swine brucellosis illustrates the risk that comes with hunting.<\/p>\n

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How Swine Brucellosis Spreads<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Hunting and killing feral pigs is risky to all participants.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adult pigs are large, powerful animals, and their tusks can inflict serious injuries to both human and canine combatants.<\/p>\n

Despite the leather armour given to pig-hunting dogs, they commonly receive penetrating injuries. These can cause substantial wounds, peritonitis (inflammation of the lining of the abdominal cavity) and even death.<\/p>\n

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Despite the armour worn by pig-hunting dogs, they are at risk of cuts and infection from pigs (Photo: Facebook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These risks are of course well understood by the people that hunt pigs.<\/p>\n

But regrettably, many tend to their dogs\u2019 injuries without veterinary assistance. Most feral pigs show little outward signs of the disease, so the danger to man and dog can be hidden even to an experienced \u201cpigger\u201d.<\/p>\n

People and dogs can be infected if they have a break in their skin (such as a minor wound or abrasion) that becomes contaminated with the blood or tissue of a pig or dog carrying the pathogen. This can occur during capture, or when the pig carcase is dressed in the field.<\/p>\n

Veterinarians in Australia have also been infected with Brucella suis<\/em> following surgery on infected dogs.<\/p>\n

In people, brucellosis is a systemic disease which can result in undulant fever, lassitude, sore joints and back pain.<\/p>\n

More serious cases involve orchitis and epididymitis (swollen testicles), miscarriage, kidney, liver or cardiovascular disease.<\/p>\n

As TIME magazine famously reported in 1943: \u201cThe disease rarely kills anybody but it often makes a patient wish he were dead\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Feral pigs are found in every State and Territory in Australia, but their highest concentration is in Queensland (Map: National Land and Water Resources Audit)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brucellosis (caused by bacterium Brucella suis<\/em>) can usually be rapidly diagnosed through blood tests and other clinical investigations as long as the history of pig hunting is disclosed to the medical team.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although there is usually a connection to pig hunting, humans can also be infected by accidental contact with the organism in diagnostic laboratories.<\/p>\n

Swine brucellosis is seen only in feral pigs in Australia, and there is currently no risk to humans from pigs kept in modern intensive piggeries.<\/p>\n

The disease is considered endemic in Queensland but it appears to be emerging in NSW. We see it more and more commonly in canine patients in the northern parts of the State, as the disease extends its biological range.<\/p>\n

This might be a natural process, although some people suspect the deliberate (and illegal) capture and relocation of young feral pigs from Queensland to NSW plays a key role in the spread of infection.<\/p>\n

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How To Protect Yourself And Your Animals<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There are some simple recommendations which will reduce the risk of infections in people who hunt pigs, and their families:
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