Trichuris Suis - Diagnosis

Diagnosis

In pigs T. suis egg production is sporadic, complicating diagnosis by fecal floatation. Necropsy of clinical cases of trichuriasis may be necessary to validate a diagnosis, since clinical signs may develop prior to patency, thus inhibiting diagnosis by fecal examination alone. On gross necropsy, the intestine may be filled with semisolid to watery to bloody mucoid feces, depending on acuteness of the infection and simultaneous bacterial infections. The anterior portion of adult worms may be observable breaching the cecal and colonic mucosa. Inflammatory nodules may be seen adjacent to the adults where they penetrate the mucosa. In earlier infections, the nodules may suggest pre-erupted larvae beneath the mucosa. Depending on the acuteness of infection, there is generalized moderate to severe typhlitis and colitis. In severe infections, the walls of the intestine may be thickened and a necrotic membrane may be located on the surface of the mucosa.