Idiopathic vesicular disease in a swine herd in Indiana

Idiopathic vesicular disease was reported in pigs of all ages during a 7-month period on an 1840-sow, three-site farrow-to-finish swine herd in Indiana. In 8to 10-weekold growing pigs recently moved from the nursery (Site 3) to Sites 1 and 2, erosions occurred primarily on the coronary band, causing coronary separation and lameness. Some growing pigs also had lesions on the snout and in the oral cavity. A few gestating sows in Sites 1 and 2 were affected primarily with snout lesions, and some litters of piglets were febrile and had coronary band lesions that resolved by 16 days of age. Pigs in Site 3 were not affected. Clinical signs were indistinguishable from exotic vesicular diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease. A foreign animal disease investigation ruled out an exotic disease as the cause. An etiologic agent was not identified; however, porcine enterovirus was isolated from tissue samples of growing pigs. Porcine enteroviruses are ubiquitous, and the isolate was considered a contaminant in this case. Practitioners are encouraged to be vigilant observers and reporters of clinical signs consistent with exotic diseases.