Amounts of vitamin E in feeds. Pigs that have been apparently healthy are suddenly found dead. These may have been pigs that were recently weaned and penned with pigs from other litters. This condition usually causes sudden death. The incidence of affected animals varies considerably from herd to herd.
Death is caused by degeneration of the heart muscle, which causes acute heart failure.
Several other disease situations can cause sudden death. Thus, any time a pig dies in this fashion, it would be advisable to get a veterinarian's diagnosis on postmortem. In this condition, massive liver damage, which gives the liver a very roughened appearance, is the most characteristic lesion. Affected pigs usually die suddenly. Some pigs, however, develop large soft swellings under the skin one or two days before death.