OCCURRENCE OF MULBERRY HEART DISEASE IN AN ORGANIZED PIG FARM IN INDIA

The conditions associated with Vitamin E and /or selenium deficiency in swine are Mulberry heart disease, Hepatosis dietetica,Skeletal muscle degeneration and Exudative diathesis (Sharp et al. 1972). In pigs,Vitamin E is necessary for the optimum function and metabolism of the nervous,muscular, circulatory and immune systems and Selenium is an essential nutrient and a part of an enzyme called glutathioneperoxidase which also acts as an antioxidant and thus has a complementary role to vitamin E. The less selenium in the diet, thegreater is the requirement for vitamin E in feed (The pigsite). Past few years’ problems associated with either the lack of availabilityof vitamin E and selenium or absolute deficiencies have become major problems in swine farms that have been maintained with exclusively with swill feeding especially for fattener stock in India.