Nutritional management of swine dysentery
Dear colleagues,
Swine dysentery is a microbial disease caused by a beta-hemolytic spirochete called Brachyspira hyodisenteriae. Brachyspira is a highly resistant pathogen in feces, capable of persisting for more than 150 days.
Birds, insects, and rodents are vectors that aid transmission, but the main route of infection is contaminated feces. It is also important to note that sows can be asymptomatic carriers that transmit the disease to their piglets.
Immunosuppression or a marked change in diet may predispose to an outbreak of dysentery.
The disease it causes is characterized by being an acute disease of the colon and cecum that produces hemorrhagic and necrotic lesions in the mucosa and submucosa of the large intestine heavily infiltrated by PMN (polymorphonucleate).
Initially, the disease manifests as thick, mucus-filled diarrhea with streaks of red blood, indicating its origin in the large intestine. Animals show a decreased appetite, and sudden death may also occur.
If not treated promptly, diarrhea can progress to more watery feces with increased blood and a typical mucofibrinous exudate. Animals experience a dramatic loss of appetite and body condition, experiencing severe dehydration and high mortality.
Worsening gut health and immunosuppression are factors that increase the risk of swine dysentery outbreaks.
Once the disease has established itself, there are effective antibiotic treatments such as those based on pleuromutilins, macrolides, or lincosamides. There are also a number of natural nutritional alternatives that, when combined holistically, can help control the disease.
At NBG, we believe that pathology should always be approached from a holistic perspective since, as we have seen, it is a disease with a strong multifactorial component.
Following the philosophy of making food the medicine of animals, at NutriBioGenics we have created NBG EnteroShield-BH, a product that treats the problem holistically, providing the following effects:
– Intestinal anti-inflammatory with special effects in reducing colitis.
– Antimicrobial with bactericidal effect, mimicking the mode of action of the innate immune system.
– Antimicrobial with bacteriostatic effect, which sequesters essential nutrients from the environment for the multiplication of Brachyspira.
– Colonocyte regenerator.
– Immunomodulator that enhances the effect of the adaptive immune system.
In our latest field trial with more than 7,000 animals affected by swine dysentery, we have demonstrated how NBG EnteroShield-BH is able to reduce the use of antibiotics to treat intestinal conditions by more than 85%, and our product is also capable of improving the animals’ feed conversion ratio.
For more information about the NBG EntoroShield-BH, please contact us:
To view an article on swine dysentery, please visit the following link:
