Research of the application of a water-in-oil emulsion for the prevention of post-weaning diarrhoea and oedema disease in piglets.

A stable water-in-oil emulsion was injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) in piglets about 5 days before weaning to prevent post-weaning diarrhoea (PWD) and oedema disease (OD). So far more than 200,000 piglets have been treated with this adjuvant on a number of farms. On these farms the mortality rate due to PWD and OD decreased, whereas the need for antibiotic treatment declined. Experiments involving alternate application of adjuvant and physiological saline, or adjuvant treatment and no treatment at all, showed a statistically significant positive effect of adjuvant application. The effect of i.p. adjuvant application on specific and non-specific defence mechanisms were examined in well defined rat- and mouse-models, to throw light upon the mechanisms behind the observed adjuvant effect in piglets.