Prevalence of Streptococcus suis in healthy pigs at different stages of production in Southeast Viet Nam

Abstract

Streptococcus suis is an opportunistic agent causing meningitis, arthritis, pneumonia, and
septicemia in pigs. Especially, S. suis serotype 2, can be transmitted from animal to human,
and leading to the death of the patients. In this study, the oral cavity fluid samples from 506
healthy pigs in four different stages of production in the pig farms in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong
Nai and Binh Duong provinces were collected and investigated. The isolation of Streptococcus
sp. and identification of S. suis and S. suis serotype 2 or serotype ½ were obtained basing
on bacterial cultivation techniques and multiplex PCR assay, respectively. The studied result
showed that 12.45% (63/506) of the healthy pigs carried S. suis, in which S. suis serotypes 2 or
½ accounting for 0.99% (5/506). The highest infection rate was in the suckling piglets (26.36%),
followed by the nursing piglets (9.55%), the lactating sows (9.09%) and the meat pigs (4.55%).
The infection rate of the healthy pigs with S.suis in all three investigating provinces accounted
for 90.91%. Thus, the care and prevention for piglets should be noted to limit the infection and
transmission of S. suis to pig as well as pig farmer.