Piglets are seen Friday at Old Crow Ranch in Durham. Owner Steve Sinisi said one way to help keep his litter healthy is to keep farm visitors from carrying manure on their shoes from one farm to the next. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

DURHAM — An updated health advisory issued by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Animal Health program on Thursday warns of increased illness and death in Maine’s pig population.

The advisory states one of seven pigs tested in a recent health check was positive for Lawsonia intracellularis, a bacteria that can cause intestinal disease and possibly death in pigs and other animals. The advisory did not say where the positive case was from, but added the affected pig also tested positive for the coccidia, a common parasite.

At Old Crow Ranch in Durham, farmers Steve and Seren Sinisi remain unaffected by the spread of the disease and constantly monitor their pigs for any sign of disease. However, they say they are frustrated about the lack of information coming from the state in a timely manner.

“I’d been receiving phone calls from other farms that work with 4-H kids and that piglets have been getting sick and really dying,” Steve Sinisi said Friday. That was before the state notification went out and he said that information on vaccinations and other preventive measures was not available, or not conveyed to Maine farmers.

Old Crow Ranch is considered a small- to medium-size ranch in Maine, with 69 pigs in various stages of growth that are in pastures, except for about a dozen piglets that are making the transition from pen to pasture.

“I work with only one breeder now, so we had a conversation,” Sinisi added. “They’re very smart. They’re competent. It is something that we’re going to see how this goes and start vaccinating for.”

The Sinisi’s are concerned about two key issues — the source of the Lawsonia, which is not common in Maine and is not considered a reportable disease, and what the state plans to do moving forward to prevent its spread. The bacteria is one of many conditions that can lead to sickness or even death, if left untreated.

“People are concerned, farmers are concerned — they’re concerned how this got to the state,” Sinisi said.

Steve Sinisi wraps up feeding his 12-week-old pigs Friday at Old Crow Ranch in Durham. Sinisi is taking extra biosecurity precautions to protect his pigs from bacteria such as Lawsonia. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Lawsonia is common in midwestern states where large breeding farms are ripe for cross contamination from feces, which is where the bacteria is found and commonly spread. Lawsonia does not pose a risk to human health, but humans can spread it via their shoes.

The other concern is Maine’s fair season, which started this week in Clinton and Litchfield and culminates the first week of October with the Fryeburg Fair. Steve Sinisi said they may skip Fryeburg this year to avoid the risk of spreading Lawsonia to their farm.

Old Crow Ranch, like all farms with livestock, have a biosecurity plan in place to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and Sinisi emphasized the Lawsonia alert is a perfect example of why a good plan is critical.

As the Sinisis were getting ready to host a ranch contra dance Friday night, they put out a reminder note that guests will be restricted to the event area and not allowed to wander the farm, something they had to have a conversation about.

“I mean, not much has changed because we do have a biosecurity plan,” Sinisi explained. “We do ask anyone that comes on farm where they’ve been,” in case they’ve been to another farm. On open farm day, they require all guests to wash their shoes or boots in a strong disinfectant solution.

“You never know, right?” Sinisi said. “These are things you can’t see, and it really does just take one person not knowing and coming here,” he said.