Managing Diarrhea in Pigs
Rigorous cleaning between finishing groups could help curb an apparent resurgence of large bowel diarrhea.
Nov 10, 2011Joe Vansickle
For many veterinarians, this old disease is clinically new, as all-in, all-out production practices, multi-site production schemes and improved swine diets have served to reduce the prevalence of LBD to below observable levels
With the apparent increasing prevalence of large bowel diarrhea (LBD) in growing pigs over the last five years, complex questions about the cause of the syndrome have reemerged, as have measures for treatment, says James Lowe, DVM, Carthage (IL) Vet Service.
Submissions to state diagnostic laboratories have been on the rise, as have discussions of grow-finish diarrhea at swine veterinary meetings.
For many veterinarians, this old disease is clinically new, as all-in, all-out production practices, multi-site production schemes and improved swine diets have served to reduce the prevalence of LBD to below observable levels, Lowe said in a talk at the Leman Swine Conference in St. Paul, MN, in September.
Historically, cases of LBD were a rare event, except for the occasional case of atypical Lawsonia intracellularis, presented as only a colitis and not ileitis, Lowe says. From 1998 to 2005, his data suggests that clinical LBD was present in less than 5% of the lots observed in all-in, all-out production.
But he has seen a significant increase in the number of diagnostic submissions for LBD in finishing pigs in the last four years (Table 1). Some reasons for increased LBD include better and more rapid tests, sampling bias by veterinarians, and a true increase in disease prevalence. Likely it is a combination of those factors, he says.
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