swine colibacillosis

The aim of the study was to address the following questions: (1) Can supplementation of pregnant sows with Actisaf Sc 47 improve the transmission of passive immunity via colostrum? (2) Can supplementation of these sows and their piglets in the early stage of life increase the growth rate? (3) Can supplementation of weaned piglets help the struggle against post-weaning diarrhoea caused by enterotoxigenic E. coli?

To achieve our aims, we performed two independent trials in which 2 pregnant sows and their piglets were supplemented with Actisaf Sc 47 and other two sows served as non-supplemented control. At the age of 2 days, samples of sera were taken from piglets in order to quantify total immunoglobulins and IgA levels. After weaning at the age of 28 days, all piglets were exposed to experimental infection with wild type enterotoxigenic E.coli, O149:K88, LT+ strain. The dose was 1.5 x 1011 CFU per piglet.

The results of immunoglobulin determination can be summarized as follow: Total immunoglobulin concentration in samples of sera taken from 2-day old piglets in trial I was 13.33 ± 2.07 g/l and 8.97 ± 2.22 g/l (p<0.001) in supplemented and control group, respectively. In trial II, total immunoglobulin concentration was 10.48 ± 3.35 g/l and 12.72 ± 1.62 g/l (p>0.05) in supplemented and control group, respectively. By determination of IgA concentrations, the following values were obtained: 3.28 ± 0.31 g/l and 1.74 ± 0.41 g/l (p<0.0001) in supplemented and control group, respectively in trial I. In trial II, concentration of IgA was 3.45 ± 0.45 g/l and 3.63 ± 1.16 g/l (p>0.05) in supplemented and control group, respectively.

Regarding growth rate, it was found that in trial I, supplemented and control group mean gains were 5.1 ± 1.8 kg and 4.1 ± 0.7 kg, respectively, before weaning; 2.9 ± 1.3 kg and 1.5 ± 0.8 kg, respectively, after weaning. In trial II, supplemented and control group gains were 4.9 ± 1.0 kg and 5.0 ± 2.0 kg, respectively, before weaning; 0.8 ± 1.0 kg and 0.8 ± 1.2 kg, respectively, after weaning.

Results of diarrhoea incidence in piglets were expressed by the sum of all days with diarrhoea per group: In trial I, 74 days in supplemented group vs. 156 days in control group; in trial II, 48 days in supplemented group vs. 98 days in control group.

From the results, we can conclude that supplementation with Actisaf Sc 47 had a positive effect on the improvement of the transmission of passive immunity via colostrum, the increase in the growth rate in the early stages of life and helped reduce post-weaning E. coli diarrhoea.

The study was supported by Lesaffre, France and it was performed at the Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic (MZe 0002716202, AdmireVet, CZ.1.05/2.1.00/01.0006, ED0006/01/01)

 

Know more: Lesaffre presents symposium on pig nutrition