Esophagogastric Ulcer in Pigs on Commercial Farms

Intensive swine production in modern conditions of breeding and use of technological processes has influenced the occurrence of wide range of breeding and technopathy diseases. One of the most abundant breeding diseases declared in literature as an independent disease is esophagogastric ulcer characterized by erosions and ulcers in mostly esophagogastric part and rarely in mucous part of stomach. Esophagogastric ulcer is a disease of multifactorial etiology caused by genetic predisposition, diet, and presence of certain pathogenic microorganisms (for example Helicobacter pylori). The goal of our research was to examine the frequency of esophagogastric ulcer in pigs on commercial farms. One commercial farm has its own slaughterhouse for producing meat of fattened pigs. In our experiment we used 103 pigs in fattening with body weight between 100 and 107 kg and aged from 6 to 7 months. In the process line of slaughterhouse we established thickening of esophageal surface, hyperkeratosis, nonstructural yellow surface in 37 of total of 103 animals, while erosion of esophageal part of stomach, surface damage which does not include damage of muscular layer of mucous membrane, was present in 29 of 103 animals. Ulcers of esophageal part of stomach which affect total thickness of mucosal membrane were present in 4 of 103 examined animals