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Diarrhea in pig production 

Diarrhea is one of the most common and probably the most important challenge for pig producers. 

What are the causes of diarrhea?   

• Viruses (e.g., rotavirus, coronavirus) Bacteria (e.g., Escherichia coli, Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens) 

• Protozoans

• Multiple disease agents (e.g. co- or mixed-infections)

• Oversupply of nutrients and poor nutrient digestibility

Diarrhea (i.e., disease outbreak) is often complex and multi-factorial. The fact that diarrhea is often caused by multiple disease agents makes a proper diagnosis and treatment difficult. Untreated animals often experience high morbidity and mortality due to dehydration or complication with other diseases (e.g., secondary infections). This eventually leads to the spread of diseases in the herd, resulting in a drop in animal growth performance and economical loss.  

What about clostridia?  

Diarrhea caused by enteric pathogens, especially clostridial species, is common in commercial farms. Two clostridial species, Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens, cause diarrhea and neonatal enteritis.  

Studies report a high prevalence of those two clostridial species, including their toxigenic subtypes, worldwide. Infections by C. difficile is often characterized by diarrhoea with variable morbidity and mortality. The most common C. perfringens serotypes isolated from animals belong to serotype A and C: 

• C perfringens type C often causes high morbidity and high mortality in neonates and suckling piglets, with syndromes ranging from bloody diarrhea to necrotic enteritis, and sometimes even sudden deaths. Outbreaks of C. perfringens type C are acute and occur in piglets less than one week old, chronic cases have been recognized with increasing frequency in pigs up to several weeks after birth. 

• C perfringens type A usually induces moderate morbidity and lower mortality compared to infections by C. perfringens type C. 

The pathogenicity of these two clostridial species are largely attributed to their capability to produce toxins which can be detrimental to the intestinal lining. Which animals are most vulnerable? Especially neonatal and suckling piglets which lack of immunity, but also infected animals can become asymptomatic carriers to infection of young animals include farm environments and transmission from infected sow. Asymptomatic carriers are of course, increasing the transmission rate in the litter and herd. The implication of managing clostridial species in farms and animals go beyond animal health and is aslo of concern of human health. More worrying is the fact that hypervirulent strains of C. difficile as well as C. perfringens , have become resistant to many antibiotics. Effective management of disease agents such as clostridial species is not only important to maintain a healthy herd, but also crucial to lower antibiotic use.

How to control diarrhea? 

Current approach for pig producers to control diarrhea is the use of therapeutic antibiotics. However, we must move away from this reactive, treatment approach to a more proactive preventative approach.

 What includes a preventive approach?  

• Improvement of the biosecurity

• Implementation of nutritional strategies to maintain a good gut health. Use the right additives such as probiotics, organic acids, and essential oils 

• Change in management

Interested how health supplements can play a role in Clostridia management? Download our publication of the ESPHM, European Symposium of Porcine Health Management.