Mulberry heart disease in young pigs without vitamin E and selenium deficiency

National Veterinary Laboratory, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Mulberry heart disease persists among young pigs in Denmark although abundant supplies of selenium and vitamin E are added to feedstuffs for sows and pigs. The concentrations of selenium and vitamin E in the liver and heart tissues of young pigs which had died suddenly, and had the characteristic lesions of mulberry heart disease post mortem, were not significantly different from the concentrations found in pigs of the same age which had died suddenly for other reasons. The concentrations of selenium and vitamin E in the livers (0.3 mg/kg and 4 mg/kg, respectively) appeared to be satisfactory in all the pigs examined.