Prophylactic application of Propionibacterium avidum KP-40 in swine with acute experimental infections. I. Viral infections--Aujeszky's disease and classical swine fever.

The usefulness of the prophylactic application of Propionibacterium avidum KP-40 (PA), a potent stimulator of the macrophage-monocyte system and inducer of endogenous interferons, was demonstrated in swine infected experimentally with Aujeszky's disease or classical swine fever viruses. Some of the infected animals were preimmunized with respective vaccines containing live, attenuated viruses. In vaccinated and non-vaccinated swine infected with Aujeszky's disease virus, pretreatment with PA lowered the morbidity rate, shortened the period of fever and fastened the recovery. Infection with classical swine fever virus resulted in 100% mortality of PA-pretreated non-vaccinated swine, but the length survival of the animals was significantly longer (p < 0.05).