[Clinical and pathological features of Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae infection in pigs (author's transl)].

The incidence of Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae (= H. parahaemolyticus or HPP) infection in fattening pigs showed a marked increase in the Netherlands during the past five years. The clinical picture on pig-breeding farms has been known for an even longer period. A peracute, acute and subacute chronic form, i.e. stages marked by exudation, proliferation and desquamation, and sequestration respectively can be differentiated. Clinical features of the (sub)acute stage of HPP infection consist in severe dyspnoea, high temperature and bloody foam from the nose and/or at the mouth. When the infection runs a chronic course, the clinical symptoms are less specific. The bacteriological diagnosis, treatment and prevention are discussed, attention also being paid to the possibility of vaccination.