Intestinal Adenomatosis in the Pig: Occurrence of a Bacterium in Affected Cells

Abstract

ENTEROPATHY of the weaned piglet, originally described by Biester and Schwarte¹, has been further reported by Rowland and Rowntree². Affected pigs show adenomatous proliferations of the intestinal mucosa, principally of the lower ileum and caecum. The affected tissue consists of glands lined by vigorously proliferating immature epithelial cells throughout the entire depth of the mucosa, with loss of villi and often the development of frankly polypoid masses. Goblet cells do not form. In the absence of secondary infection, most animals recover within about 6 weeks and the intestine is normal at slaughter. Histochemical studies have shown the adenomatous cells to be lacking the more common enzymic activities of normal mature villous epithelium.