Occurrence of post-mortem lesions in internal pig organs

The aim of the study was to estimate the incidence of occurrence of lesions in livers as well as inflammation in the lung tissue of fattened pigs caused by the migration of Ascaris suum larvae. Post-mortem examinations covered 2,250 pigs in 1999 and 2,230 in 2000, all from southern Greater Poland. Lesions on both surfaces of the liver (white spots) were found. Lesions were found in about 16% of the pigs in 1999, including about 76% invasions of low intensity and about 24% of high intensity, while 22.5% in 2000, including 74% of low intensity and about 26% of high intensity - more than 8 white spots in the liver. Pathological lesions were found in about 27% of the examined lungs in 1999 and in about 32% in 2000. Inflammation changes were found mainly in the cranial lobes and medial lobes (often all lobes were inflamed), rarely in the caudal lobes. In some examined pigs (ca. 6%) there were adhesions of the pulmonary pleura to the parietal pleura, as well as pericarditis and endocarditis. The discovered pathological lesions in the post-mortem examinations of the selected organs showed a significant ascarid invasion as well as the large extent of respiratory system diseases in pigs in that region.