Porcine Intestinal Disease Complex: Focus On Neonatal Diarrhoea

Piglets are especially vulnerable to mortality at the very start of life. They have little spare water or energy in their bodies when they are born, so any loss due to an episode of diarrhoea for example, is potentially life threatening.

Even if the piglet survives such an episode, experience tells us that the animal will carry that poor start with them for the rest of their life, often resulting in lower lifetime performance and higher susceptibility to other infections. Prevention is therefore key, and treatment should be initiated immediately if diarrhoea occurs. 

The barrier function of the gastrointestinal tract in neonatal piglets is not as developed as it is in mature animals. It takes 7-10 days for small intestinal epithelium cells to be generated in day-old piglets, compared to only 2-4 days in 3-week-old piglets. This difference contributes to higher susceptibility of infectious enteritis in newborn piglets.

There are several potential causes, both infectious and non-infectious, of neonatal diarrhoea. In many cases, pathogens join forces to attack the intestine of the piglet. Listed below are the most relevant pathogens that can cause neonatal diarrhoea. Most are endemic on farms, meaning if disease occurs, the infection pressure has overcome the piglets' immune defence. 

Viral causes: 

• Rotaviruses A, B and C
• Coronaviruses like PED and TGE

Bacterial causes: 

• Escherichia coli (F4, F5, F6 and F41, mainly)
• Clostridium perfringens (type A & C, mainly) and Clostridium difficile
• Enterococcus hirae

Protozoal causes: 

• Cysto-isopora suis
• Cryptosporidium suis
• Giardia duodenalis

Sufficient immunity should be present in the sow herd and be well transferred to the piglets.

1. Immunise the sow herd sufficiently by vaccination (commercial, autogenous, or even feed-back), to create passive colostral and lactogenic immunity for piglet protection. 
2. Ensure sufficient transfer to piglets. Anything that leads to insufficient colostrum uptake will lead to neonatal diarrhoea. Pyrocam® (oral meloxicam) helps to manage mastitis, metritis and agalactia (MMA) syndrome and consequently optimises colostrum production.

Housing: a clean and comfortable environment for the newborns is often the forgotten trigger.

1.  Clean the sows and the farrowing house before farrowing. The disinfectant used in this process should also kill the most resistant pathogens such as protozoal oocysts and rotaviruses. Prophyl® S is designed to ensure biosecurity on farm: it kills coccidia, cryptosporidia, mycobacteria, fungi, viruses, and bacteria, and is even effective in the presence of organic matter with a long-lasting action. 
2. Make sure piglets are warm enough, especially in the first 3 days of life. If piglets are cold, energy goes to warming themselves up instead of developing immunity.

Feed and drinking water: both determine to what extent pathogens are excreted by the sow and subsequently how much they infect newborns. Newborns are still developing their microbiome at this time so should be protected from pathogens.

1. Drinking water should be of excellent quality. Disinfecting waterlines in the farrowing units is a necessity to prevent neonatal diarrhoea. Iodol® 100 is an acidic disinfectant for water pipes that descales and kills bacteria and yeasts in water. It is based on iodine and phosphoric acid, and it can be used during the depopulation period (at 1.5%) and the production period (at 150 ppm).
2. Probiotics can help to reduce pathogen shedding and support early gut development, consequently reducing pathogen proliferation in the intestinal gut of the newborn piglets. Top Gut® / Miya-Gold® contains a butyrate producing bacterial strain which, if fed to sows before farrowing, helps to decrease bacterial shedding and increase resilience in the young piglet's gut.

Herd management

1. In case of bacterial and protozoal infections, early treatment with an effective antimicrobial is very important for these vulnerable animals. Every hour is important for preventing mortality and irreparable damage. Consider Parofor® oral treatment which contains paromomycin and has a proven track record in treating neonatal diarrhoea. Correct diagnosis is critical before treatment starts.
2. In cases of diarrhoea, piglets die of dehydration. Make sure sufficient rehydrating water is available.