René Renzhammer, Sebastian Vetter, Marlies Dolezal, Lukas Schwarz, Annemarie Käsbohrer, Andrea Ladinig
Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University Clinic for Swine, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, Vienna, 1210, Austria.
Unit of Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology, Institute of Food Safety, Food Technology and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, Vienna, 1210, Austria.
Porcine Health Manag. 2023 May 11;9(1):20. doi: 10.1186/s40813-023-00315-z.
Post-weaning diarrhoea (PWD) is a frequent, multifactorial disease of piglets leading to increased mortality rates and high economic losses. Due to the emergence of multi-resistant Escherichia coli isolates and the ban of zinc oxide (ZnO) in the EU since June 2022, alternative measures to prevent PWD are urgently needed. While an abundance of feed supplements is described to prevent PWD, there are hardly any studies reflecting the current situation of PWD in the field. Thus, we aimed to identify differences in management practices, housing and feeding strategies between farms with PWD and farms without PWD. Data were personally collected using a semi-structured questionnaire in 257 Austrian piglet-producing farms. Farms with PWD in more than 10% of all weaned groups within twelve months prior to data collection were defined as case farms (n = 101), while the remaining 136 farms were defined as control farms. Data from 237 farms and 69 explanatory variables were analysed via penalized binary logistic regression using elastic-net in 100 different splits into randomly selected training and test datasets (80:20). Treatment with ZnO and/or colistin (136 farms) was negatively associated with PWD in all splits and had the biggest estimated absolute log odds ratio out of all tested variables. Implementation of an all-in/all-out system in the nursery units and administration of probiotics or horseradish also had preventive effects in most splits (≥ 97%). A higher number of feeding phases for piglets within the first seven weeks of life and housing on fully slatted floors was associated negatively with the occurrence of PWD as well in > 95% of all splits. PWD was more likely to occur on farms having problems with neonatal diarrhoea or postpartum dysgalactia syndrome. While our data demonstrate that treatment with ZnO or colistin had the biggest statistical effect on PWD, we were able to identify other preventive measures like supplementation with probiotics or horseradish. Since implementation of all-in/all-out measures and fully slatted floors were also negatively associated with the occurrence of PWD on visited farms, we assume that reduction of bacterial load by the implementation of simple hygiene measures are still crucial to prevent PWD.
断奶后腹泻（PWD）是仔猪常见的多因素疾病，会导致死亡率上升和巨大的经济损失。由于多重耐药性大肠杆菌菌株的出现以及自2022年6月起欧盟禁止使用氧化锌（ZnO），迫切需要预防PWD的替代措施。虽然有大量饲料添加剂被描述为可预防PWD，但几乎没有任何研究反映该疾病在实际养殖中的现状。因此，我们旨在确定发生PWD的猪场与未发生PWD的猪场在管理实践、猪舍和饲养策略方面的差异。通过半结构化问卷亲自收集了奥地利257个仔猪生产猪场的数据。在数据收集前十二个月内，所有断奶仔猪组中PWD发生率超过10%的猪场被定义为病例猪场（n = 101），其余136个猪场被定义为对照猪场。使用弹性网对237个猪场的数据和69个解释变量进行惩罚二元逻辑回归分析，将数据随机分为100个不同的训练和测试数据集（80:20）。在所有数据分割中，使用氧化锌和/或黏菌素治疗（136个猪场）与PWD呈负相关，并且在所有测试变量中具有最大的估计绝对对数优势比。在保育单元实施全进全出系统以及使用益生菌或辣根进行管理在大多数数据分割中（≥97%）也具有预防作用。仔猪出生后前七周内更多的饲喂阶段以及在全漏缝地板上饲养在超过95%的数据分割中也与PWD的发生呈负相关。在患有新生仔猪腹泻或产后无乳综合征问题的猪场中，PWD更有可能发生。虽然我们的数据表明使用氧化锌或黏菌素治疗对PWD具有最大的统计学影响，但我们能够确定其他预防措施，如补充益生菌或辣根。由于在受访猪场中实施全进全出措施和全漏缝地板也与PWD的发生呈负相关，我们认为通过实施简单的卫生措施来减少细菌负荷对于预防PWD仍然至关重要。
