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Very Useful Information re Chlamydia in guinea pigs

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The common cavy Chlamydia is sometimes described as ‘self limiting’. That means that, with good general health, pigs will get over it by themselves and it is only the symptoms (keeping their eyes clean & comfortable etc) that is necessary. Doxycycline will ‘cure’ it but probably does more harm to the pig than getting over the infection by itself. Discuss this with your vet.

It is possible to have the pigs tested (no point in having them all tested – just do one!) It isn’t desperately expensive £20-£30 for the test itself.

BUT YOU MUST MAKE SURE THE LABORATORY AND THE VET UNDERSTAND THE LIMITATIONS OF THE TEST. Please...this is soooo important.

The test will NOT show the difference between Chlamydophila caviae and a completely different disease Chlamydia psittaci (this is sometimes called ‘parrot fever’ ) It will just give a result of yes or no to ‘”Chlamydia of some sort”.

Be very suspicious if the vet / lab say the pigs have Chlamydia psittaci. It is POSSIBLE for pigs and humans to get parrot fever but it is so incredibly unlikely that this is what your pigs have, so don’t worry. They have quite possibly got C. Caviae though and so the test will come out positive.


Now, this is what the confusion is (and caused a lot of pigs to be PTS 18 months ago). Harryandco ......where you read that there is another guinea pig infection called Chlamydia psittaci.....there isn’t.
This is the OLD name for Chlamydophila caviae. You will sometimes see it written as Chlamydia psittaci GPIC strain. (GPIC stands for Guinea Pig Inclusion Conjunctivitis). The names were changed quite recently and you will still see both names used.

18 months ago a large number of pigs had C. Caviae (with respiratory problems) and pigs were tested. The labs sent the results back to the vets saying ‘positive’ and on the report they used the OLD name of Chlamydia psittaci without pointing out that actually the pigs just had C. Caviae and the tests were not accurate enough to tell the difference.
Very sad for a lot of pigs as they were PTS because of the fear of spreading C. Psittaci (parrot fever) to humans .......of course they couldn’t have done as they never had it!



 
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Hi,

I have had a suspected outbreak of this. In a shed of 8, 6 have been infected, I have now removed the last two in the hope they wont get it. Others outside the shed have shown no signs. The piggy who has had it the longest has now had it for 2 weeks so does anyone now how long it takes them to get over it? I am aware it will vary from pig to pig. My other question is after it has gone and a deep clean has been carried out would it be safe to add more pigs with no risk to them. With proper quarantine this time of course.

Thanks in advance
 
fi.cantillon said:
i've not heard of this before. What is it and what are the symptons?
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Sorry, the ’sticky’ is just one of the answers from a thread on a possible Chlamydia case – that is why the signs are not mentioned....but here they are :-

ALWAYS Runny eyes / gummed up eyes. Nearly always both eyes (one runny/gummed up eye is often an injury that has become infected and nothing to do with Chlamydia).
OFTEN Runny nose/respiratory problems.
SOMETIMES Sows aborting. Newborn babies failing to thrive.

would it be safe to add more pigs with no risk to them. With proper quarantine this time of course?
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In other words do pigs remain ‘carriers’ of the infection once they have recovered?

Don’t know the answer to this and I’m not sure that anyone does. Parrots can definitely become silent carriers of Chlamydia psittaci (Psittacosis / Parrot Fever) and you will plenty of information of the internet confirming this.
But, with pigs we are talking a different disease in the first place. It is a bit like asking if sufferers of human Chlamydia remain ‘carriers’ forever. Nope....thank G-d they don’t.

I think in all probability, when C. caviae reappears in a group/herd of pigs it is because they have been exposed to the infection again (much like human Chlamydia). It has generally been thought that C. caviae mostly affects young pigs. This COULD suggest that older pigs have been exposed to the bug before (may or may not have actually suffered from it) and have some immunity to it.

The infection can last 3-4 weeks (I presume that when this is the quoted length of time it is referring to pigs without treatment. I don’t think bayril has any effect on C. Caviae but might stop the respiratory problems from getting worse?)
 
I have never heard of this either. I have taken in 22 g.p both males and females all have sticky gummed up eyes in both as well. What is the treatment for this?
 
This is very important information indeed, It's good thing to be aware of it.. Thanks..
 
Guinea pigs are so soft and not easy to care it. I have two guinea pigs and it is very difficult to maintain to it. Guinea pigs is my favourite pig in all types of pigs.
 
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