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Swine Ileitis
Swine
ileitis or proliferative enteropathy is a common enteric
disease of grow-finish pigs.
The primary causative agent is the bacteria Lawsonia
intracellularis.
The acute form of ileitis causes a sudden onset of diarrhea with
inflammation in the ileum of the small intestine and the colon,
and even death. The chronic form of ileitis causes persistent diarrhea
and/or progressive weight loss.
Clinical signs of swine
ileitis include watery to pasty, brownish or faintly bloodstained
feces. Even though a pig may not show clinical signs of ileitis,
it often tests positive for the bacteria that cause it. A serological
survey conducted by the National Animal Health Monitoring System
in 2000 found that 96.2 percent of tested U.S. herds were positive
for L. intracellularis, while 37 percent were clinically infected.
The presence of these bacteria, even if they don’t cause
outward signs of ileitis, can take a toll on the performance of
growing pigs by a decrease in weight gain.
In a 2002 paper titled “Thinking Strategically About Control
Points for Diagnostics; Details of Six Specific Swine Diseases,” Tom
Fangman, DVM, MS, Dipl ABVP-SHM, swine focus team at
the University of Missouri-Columbia, says the following management
situations are thought to predispose pigs to outbreaks of ileitis:
- Young
adult pigs (four to 12 months
of age) involved in boar and gilt performance testing programs
- Gilts within
breeding programs that involve
transporting them to new facilities
- The movement and mixing of boars and
gilts into breeding groups
- Times of social and
environmental stresses
- Periods of extreme weather,
where extreme temperature swings
between night and day occur, along with hot humid weather
Treatment of this swine
disease with an antimicrobial is often successful in reducing
the severity of ileitis and helps to reduce the
risk of chronic disease. Denagard® 10
Medicated Premix from Novartis
Animal Health is a proven, broad-spectrum antibiotic
that is effective in controlling ileitis. In
addition to controlling ileitis, Denagard 10
and chlortetracycline (CTC) is approved for concurrent
use to provide enteric and respiratory disease
coverage, respectively.
To learn more about swine ileitis and Denagard, contact your veterinarian,
your Novartis
representative or a Novartis
professional service veterinarian.
Caution: Do not feed Denagard
10 undiluted. Do not use in feeds for animals other than swine. Not
for use in swine weighing over 250 lbs. Contraindications: Swine
being treated with Denagard (tiamulin) should not have access to
feeds containing polyether ionophores (e.g., lasalocid, monensin,
narasin, salinomycin and semduramicin) as adverse reactions may occur.
See product label for directions for use and additional information.
Caution: Do not use Denagard
Liquid Concentrate undiluted. Not for use in swine weighing over
250 lbs. Contraindications: Swine being treated with Denagard (tiamulin)
should not have access to feeds containing polyether ionophores (e.g.,
lasalocid, monensin, narasin, salinomycin and semduramicin) as adverse
reactions may occur. See product label for directions for use and
additional information.
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