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Boehringer Ingelheim DENMARK - Two researchers from Boehringer-Ingelheim Vetmedica in Copenhagen have published a paper showing a highly significant reduction in the use of antimicrobials after vaccination of pigs against porcine proliferative enteropathy in a Danish specific-pathogen-free (SPF) herd.
Hanne Bak and Poul Henning Rathkjen explored whether the use of group medication with antibiotics in a Danish pig herd was reduced after vaccination of the pigs against proliferative enteropathy (PE) caused by Lawsonia intracellularis.
For the treated group, 7900 pigs originating from a single commercial sow herd were vaccinated against L. intracellularis, whereas 7756 pigs were kept as non-vaccinated controls. The pigs were included batch-wise in the study with every second batch being vaccinated.
In the vaccinated batches, the consumption of oxytetracycline to treat PE was reduced by 79 per cent, with a significantly lower number of pigs being treated (P<0.0001).
Although the detailed results are not presented in the provisional report, the authors say that vaccination resulted in a highly significant improvement of average daily weight gain (+46 g/day; P=9.55 x 10-31) and carcass weight (+1.25 kg; P=4.54 x 10-05) as well as a shortened fattening period (-8 days; P=2.01 x 10-45).
Reference
Bak H. and P.H.S. Rathkjen, 2009. Reduced use of antimicrobials after vaccination of pigs against porcine proliferative enteropathy in a Danish SPF herd. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 2009, 51:1