Porcine Respiratory Disease, PRRS, Influenza, Mycoplasma, APP, and Reportables - NAVLE Prep

Quick anchor

First sort

Separate acute outbreak, chronic cough, reproductive-respiratory syndrome, sudden death, and vesicular/reportable concern before choosing the next step.

Acute cough lane

Sudden cough and fever in a group raises swine influenza-style outbreak control and diagnostic sampling logic.

Chronic cough lane

Dry cough, poor growth, and low mortality in grow-finish pigs favors Mycoplasma-style herd interpretation rather than severe bacterial closure.

Regulatory lane

Vesicles, high mortality, severe systemic signs, or reportable-disease concern require immediate isolation and official-veterinary escalation.

High-yield takeaways

Start with the safest next step, then narrow the case using signalment, timeline, exam findings, diagnostics, and response to treatment.
Use the traps, differentials, and practice questions to rehearse NAVLE-style reasoning instead of memorizing isolated facts.
This educational study page is not a clinical protocol; confirm patient-specific decisions with current references and clinician judgment.

30-second revision

First sortAcute outbreak, chronic cough, reproductive-respiratory syndrome, sudden death, or reportable concern.

Influenza clueAbrupt group cough and fever with rapid spread.

Mycoplasma clueChronic dry cough and reduced growth with low mortality.

APP clueSudden deaths or severe pleuropneumonia pattern.

BoundaryFood-animal and reportable-disease decisions need official and veterinary guidance.

Exam core — read this first

Board mindset → Porcine respiratory stems usually test herd sequence: isolate, sample, protect welfare, review biosecurity, and avoid premature treatment certainty.

Swine influenza clue → Abrupt group coughing, fever, and rapid spread reward outbreak-control reasoning and staff exposure awareness.

Mycoplasma clue → Chronic nonproductive cough, poor growth, and production-stage context point toward enzootic pneumonia and herd management review.

APP clue → Sudden death or severe pleuropneumonia pattern increases urgency and containment priority.

Emergency Triage Alert

Escalate Severe Respiratory Outbreaks and Reportable-Disease Concern

If a group has rapid mortality, severe respiratory distress, bloody froth, vesicles, or major public-health/regulatory concern, prioritize isolation, herd-veterinarian escalation, diagnostic coordination, and biosecurity before routine individual-animal planning.

Food Animal and Public Health Caution

Manual-review caution

Porcine respiratory cases can involve residues, antimicrobial stewardship, occupational exposure, animal movement, and reportable-disease rules. Use this page for NAVLE-style study only and verify clinical or regulatory actions with official and veterinary guidance.

Pattern recognition

Core pattern

sudden coughing and fever affecting many grow-finish pigsdry chronic cough with reduced growth and low mortalityreproductive failure plus respiratory disease across production groupssudden deaths or severe pleuropneumonia patternvesicles, high mortality, unusual spread, or foreign-animal-disease concern

Supporting clues

age group and production stageonset speed and morbidity patternmortality, respiratory effort, and welfare severityreproductive history and gilt/sow signsrecent movements, mixing, ventilation, transport, and staff exposurediagnostic sampling timing and official-reporting boundary

NAVLE trigger: The question is often asking which branch is safest first: outbreak control, diagnostic confirmation, biosecurity isolation, or reportable-disease escalation.

Decision core — what NAVLE actually asks

Severe outbreak or reportable concern

Choose isolation, movement control, herd-veterinarian involvement, diagnostic coordination, and official-channel escalation where appropriate.

Abrupt group cough and fever

Think swine influenza-style outbreak branch: minimize spread, sample early, review staff and pig exposure, and communicate biosecurity steps.

Chronic cough and poor growth

Think Mycoplasma or respiratory-complex branch: interpret herd pattern, ventilation, mixing, vaccination history, and diagnostics before narrow closure.

Stable endemic problem

Use records, production-flow mapping, and prevention planning rather than treating a single pig as the whole answer.

Key interpretation

Onset speed

Branch anchor

Abrupt herd spread suggests viral outbreak logic; chronic dry cough suggests enzootic respiratory pattern.

Mortality severity

Urgency anchor

Sudden deaths or severe distress move APP, foreign-animal-disease concern, or emergency containment higher.

Reproductive signs

PRRS anchor

Abortions, weak-born pigs, or sow/gilt problems plus respiratory disease point toward PRRS-style reasoning.

Diagnostic timing

Sampling anchor

Early appropriate samples and herd-level data are more useful than guessing from one late-stage animal.

Biosecurity context

Control anchor

Movement, mixing, ventilation, staff contact, and transport can be the key clues.

Do not infer official reporting rules, drug choices, or withdrawal guidance from this educational page. Verify jurisdiction, labels, and herd protocols with current official and veterinary sources.

Treatment

Immediate control

Classify severity, isolate affected groups where practical, reduce movement, protect welfare, and coordinate diagnostic sampling.

The first safe step is often containment and confirmation, not a memorized medication.

Outbreak branch

For abrupt group cough or fever, prioritize spread reduction, exposure communication, and timely diagnostics with the herd veterinarian.

Swine influenza-style stems test outbreak reasoning and public-health awareness.

Chronic branch

For chronic cough and poor growth, review ventilation, mixing, all-in/all-out flow, vaccination history, and respiratory-complex diagnostics.

Mycoplasma-style questions reward herd interpretation over dramatic individual rescue.

Regulatory boundary

For vesicular disease, unusual mortality, or foreign-animal-disease concern, use official-veterinary escalation and do not move animals casually.

This page intentionally avoids legal certainty and protocol-level instructions.

NAVLE traps — where students lose marks

Treating one pig while ignoring herd spread

Morbidity pattern, age group, and production flow often determine the safest answer.

Calling all coughs bacterial pneumonia

Swine influenza, PRRS, Mycoplasma, APP, and respiratory-complex cases require different next-step reasoning.

Missing Mycoplasma because the pig is not crashing

Chronic dry cough and poor growth can be high-yield even when mortality is low.

Ignoring sudden-death severity

APP or severe outbreak patterns increase urgency and containment priority.

Forgetting public-health and staff exposure context

Influenza and occupational exposure clues can change communication and prevention steps.

Offering protocol certainty in a food animal

Drug use, residues, and withdrawal decisions require current labels and veterinary oversight.

Handling reportable-disease clues as routine farm advice

Vesicles, unusual mortality, or foreign-animal-disease concern should trigger official-channel caution.

Differentials — how to separate these on NAVLE

NAVLE discriminator: use onset speed, age group, cough pattern, mortality, reproductive signs, and regulatory risk to choose the first safe branch.

Lane	Key clue	Best decision bias	Common trap
Swine influenza outbreak	Abrupt group cough, fever, rapid spread, grow-finish context	Biosecurity, exposure communication, early diagnostics, movement reduction	Only treating individual pigs
Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae	Chronic dry cough, poor growth, low mortality, endemic herd pattern	Ventilation, flow, vaccination history, diagnostics, respiratory-complex review	Overcalling severe bacterial pneumonia
PRRS	Reproductive failure plus respiratory or systemic disease across groups	Herd diagnostics, biosecurity, and control planning	Separating respiratory and reproductive clues
Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae	Sudden death, severe respiratory signs, pleuropneumonia pattern	Urgent herd-veterinarian involvement and containment	Underestimating mortality signal
Reportable or foreign-animal-disease concern	Vesicles, unusual mortality, rapid spread, suspicious movement history	Isolate, stop movement, and escalate through official veterinary channels	Routine outpatient closure

Practice questions

Practice porcine respiratory outbreak and reportable-disease branch sorting

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Q1Outbreak control

A grow-finish barn develops abrupt coughing, fever, and high morbidity over two days. What is the safest first branch?

Q2Chronic cough

Finisher pigs have persistent dry cough and reduced growth, but mortality is low. Which interpretation best fits the exam logic?

Q3Severe pleuropneumonia

A finishing group has sudden deaths and severe respiratory distress. What does this signal do to the next-step decision?

Q4Reportable concern

A group of pigs has vesicular lesions after recent animal movement. What is the safest exam habit?

Q5Food animal boundary

Why should a porcine respiratory study page avoid fixed medication and withdrawal instructions?