OBSERVATIONS ON THE THERAPY AND PREVENTIO N OF CERTAIN DERMATOPATHIESIN PIGS

Exudative dermatitis of piglets is a well known disease all over the w orld. Its most characteristic symptom is a fetid, greasy coating cover ing the whole skin surface. According to the literature data, the dise ase is caused by bacteria, mainly by Staphylococcus hyicus. Based on t he authors' practical experiences, experiments and literature data, it can be concluded that the dermatitis can be caused by nutritional ano malies, nearly by deficiency of essential fatty acids (EFA).In the eti ology of exudative dermatitis in suckling piglets, insufficient EFA su pply of pregnant sows may also play a role. In case of insufficient EF A supply, the bacteriostatic effect of EFA is absent, permeability of the skin increases and abundant amount of serum is infiltrated onto th e skin surface, proliferation of epithelium is disturbed, the organism is more sensitive to the bacterial infections. Thus, an opportunity a rises for the staphylococci playing a determinative role in the etiolo gy of the disease to penetrate into the tissues (Fig. 2). In the autho rs' cases male piglets proved to be more sensitive to the EFA deficien cy than females. The authors smeared sunflower oil or pig fat onto the skin of affected piglets daily. The affected animals - according to t heir assumption due to the beneficial effect of essential fatty acid ( linolenic acid) content of sunflower oil or pig fat recovered in the m ajority of cases. Only the severely affected piglets died. The authors have assumed that EFA dificiency also played a role in the etiology o f simultaneously in the same herd occurring parakeratosis in their cas es (Figs 1 and 3). Similarly pig fat was smeared onto the skin of pigl ets with parakeratosis and pig fat was also fed. The affected animals recovered within 8 to 10 days.