Upgrading
Streptococcus suis
resilience
Fighting a complicated problem such as Streptococcus suis requires a strategy that includes both the sow and the piglets. This approach combines indirectly helping the piglets’ immunity through the sows’ colostrum with direct antimicrobial action in the nursery, giving piglets a healthy start in life.
A hard thing to handle
Although S. suis is responsible for significant losses in todays’ swine industry, it is still considered a hard issue to get under control. Different serotypes of the disease and a lack of effective vaccines are leading to clinical symptoms and mortality rates. This means that farms too often find themselves obliged to resort to increased antibiotic use.
As well as adequate biosecurity management and veterinary control measurements, there is an additional solution to significantly reduce the infection risk. In recent studies and trials our specialists have been able to prove that adding a well-balanced blend of medium-chain fatty acids to the sow and weaning diets gives broad support against widespread pathogens, and explicitly against S. suis.
Take control
of S. suis even
before the piglets
are born
An effective strategy targets the piglet and the sow
The sow’s microbiota plays a pivotal role in the early microbial colonization of the initially sterile piglet’s gut. This is why strategies to strengthen the piglets’ immunity against pathogens need to start even before the young animals are born.
By including our MCFA solutions in the sow feed during late gestation and lactation, the microbiome of both the sow and its piglets can be influenced. Furthermore, the total intake of antibodies via the colostrum will increase significantly and improve the piglets’ immunity. This results in higher neonatal survival rates and better health and growth performance after weaning.
Proven antibacterial action
Since we are not in the business of taking chances, we extensively test and evaluate our solutions’ performance before we introduce them to the market.
In the case of MCFA supplementation as a preventive strategy against S. suis, the effective antibacterial activity was first proven during in vitro tests in our innovation lab. These tests clearly demonstrated a higher growth inhibition of S. suis without affecting good gut microflora.
In a later stage, several global field trials showed that we were able to lower piglets’ mortality and antibiotic usage. Treatment and monitoring of hundreds of sows and piglets at different farms showed that our approach effectively leads to significantly better immunity and lower mortality due to S. suis infections with a lower antibiotic use as final result.
“Piglets’ susceptibility to various pathogens is a driver for solid management and risk prevention strategies. That is why we offer solutions that enable our customers to act adequately at any given moment. The final result? One health, because healthy animals result in healthy meat. One welfare, because thriving animals are easier to work with. And one profit, because responsibly produced food offers an honest value for producers, retailers and consumers alike.”
Solutions worth considering
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