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Pig disease surveillance

If you have found something new, unusual, severe, or unresponsive in relation to pig diseases, please contact the PEG veterinary lead or your nearest Veterinary Investigation Centre.

Please note: if you suspect a notifiable disease you must contact APHA immediately.

Explore the diagnoses made by the GB surveillance network through the interactive pig disease surveillance dashboard.

Pig Expert Group (PEG) veterinary lead

PEG veterinary lead - Susanna WilliamsonThe PEG veterinary lead is Susanna Williamson (01284 724499).

Susanna has been the PEG veterinary lead since April 2014. She leads the Defra-funded pig disease scanning surveillance project in APHA, and is a former President of the Pig Veterinary Society.

Susanna also represents APHA on the Pig Health and Welfare Council (PHWC) and the PHWC antimicrobials and surveillance subgroups.

PEG members

To support the PEG veterinary lead, the group has representation from Veterinary Investigation Officers from APHA and a SRUC Veterinary Services representative. In addition, there are APHA members on PEG providing expertise for specific disciplines (e.g. epidemiology, pathology, virology) and specific diseases (e.g. porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, swine influenza).

There is also representation from those involved in International Disease Monitoring, International Trade and Field Veterinary Epidemiology in APHA and from Defra policy.

PEG non-APHA members include representatives from:

PEG surveillance reports

PEG contributes interesting and unusual pig cases, highlights pig disease alerts or findings and provides focus articles relating to pigs for the APHA Veterinary Record monthly disease surveillance report. These are compiled together with contributions from other Species Expert groups.

Quarterly GB Pig Diseases Emerging Threats reports are compiled by the PEG. They summarise investigations into threats and other surveillance issues to inform governments, the veterinary profession and livestock farming industries of potential new or re-emerging threats to pig health or changing trends among existing ones.

Interesting cases from reports in 2017 and 2018

GB Emerging threats: pigs disease report

 Quarterly highlights
January to March 2017
  • Investigations into possible anthelmintic resistance in sows
  • Leptospirosis associated with reproductive disease
  • Atypical Brachyspira hyodysenteriae detected causing diarrhoea
  • Increase in diagnostic rate of Vitamin E & selenium-associated disease
April to June 2017
  • Risk of African Swine Fever raised from very low to low
  • Haemorrhagic disease outbreaks reported as suspect swine fever
  • Severe outbreak of inclusion body rhinitis
  • Staphylococcal skin infection and antimicrobial resistance
  • Wild boar non-statutory pig pathogen surveillance
July to September 2017
  • GB pig disease surveillance dashboard launched
  • Features of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome diagnoses
  • Leptospirosis in growing pigs due to rodent-associated serovar
  • Myoplasma hyorhinis involvement in PRRS diease outbreaks
  • Westward spread of African Swine Fever in Eastern Europe
October to December 2017

  • Pig disease surveillance dashboard 2017 output
  • Westward spread of African Swine Fever in Poland
  • Sporadic haemorrhagic diathesis in a single pig
  • Slight upward trend in swine dysentery cases in 2017
  • Increased diagnostic rate of Lawsonia intracellularis-associated disease
January to March 2018
  • Spread of African Swine Fever into Hungary
  • Ivermectin resistance confirmed in Oesophagostomum dentatum
  • Typical winter rise in PRRS diagnoses
  • Novel bat-derived enteric virus in pigs in China
  • Brachyspira suanatina detection in pigs in Germany

Pig dashboards

Population information

Disease information

Information notes and alerts on specific diseases or conditions:

Further information (external links)