SUSPECTED ACUTE MYOPATHY OF PIGS

Following sudden exposure to extreme cold, a group of 15-week-old pigs exhibited strange nervous signs which included arching the back, a high stepping gait, violent tremors of the whole body and screaming. The animals lowered themselves and once sitting, the tremors and screaming stopped. But if forced to rise, these signs recurred. When the pigs returned to a warmer environment, they rapidly recovered. An acute clinical myopathy caused by a marginal vitamin E deficiency was suspected. Other stress-induced factors, such as circulatory collapse caused by movement from a warm to a cold environment, were also thought to have contributed towards the myopathy.