Which worm in pigs causes clinical signs similar to swine dysentery?

Which worm in pigs causes clinical signs similar to swine dysentery?

• A. Trichuris (whipworms)
• B. Ascaris suum
• C. Strongyloides ransomi
• D. Taenia solium

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that a large-intestinal nematode can produce colitis in the cecum and colon, leading to mucohemorrhagic diarrhea that resembles swine dysentery. Trichuris suis, the whipworm, embeds in the large intestine and irritates the mucosa, causing inflammation with bloody, mucus-rich diarrhea and tenesmus—signs that look like swine dysentery. In pigs, swine dysentery is caused by a spirochete in the same region, so the clinical picture overlaps when whipworms are present. The other parasites listed affect different parts of the gut or body and typically don’t produce the same dysentery-like large intestinal diarrhea: Ascaris suum mainly causes respiratory issues and poor growth via small-intestinal infection; Strongyloides ransomi can cause enteritis in piglets but not the classic large-intestinal dysentery picture; Taenia solium is a tapeworm with largely minimal GI signs in pigs.

The key idea is that a large-intestinal nematode can produce colitis in the cecum and colon, leading to mucohemorrhagic diarrhea that resembles swine dysentery. Trichuris suis, the whipworm, embeds in the large intestine and irritates the mucosa, causing inflammation with bloody, mucus-rich diarrhea and tenesmus—signs that look like swine dysentery. In pigs, swine dysentery is caused by a spirochete in the same region, so the clinical picture overlaps when whipworms are present. The other parasites listed affect different parts of the gut or body and typically don’t produce the same dysentery-like large intestinal diarrhea: Ascaris suum mainly causes respiratory issues and poor growth via small-intestinal infection; Strongyloides ransomi can cause enteritis in piglets but not the classic large-intestinal dysentery picture; Taenia solium is a tapeworm with largely minimal GI signs in pigs.