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To a hammer, the old saying goes, everything looks like a nail. Such was ileitis management with the blunt instrument of continuous antibiotic medication. Now, studies are suggesting that under today's improved health management on intensive operations, continuously feeding medications without a diagnosis of a susceptible bacterial infection may be a losing proposition.

Improved ileitis diagnostic tools now permit accurate diagnosis on live animals via blood or feces, permitting producers to pinpoint the optimal time to apply ileitis prevention/control intervention strategies. Blood tests can demonstrate exposure starting two to three weeks after infection. Polymerase Chain Reaction tests find the bacterial DNA in feces. Plus, several post-mortem tests remain useful as tools to confirm suspicion of ileitis based on clinical signs.

If, for any reason, vaccination 3-4 weeks before Lawsonia exposure is not possible, targeted feed medication after expected exposure, but before a clinical outbreak, is another option. This measure inhibits ileitis while allowing immunity to develop. The short medication period required with Denagard^® 10 — as little as 10 days — accommodates such short-term strategic use while reducing cost compared to other medications. To ensure uniform, consistent long-term population immunity, the short phase feed medication period can be preceded by vaccination against ileitis.

Dritz S.; et. al. 2002. Effects of administration of antimicrobials in feed on growth rate and feed efficiency of pigs in multisite production systems. J Am Vet Med Assoc 220(11):1690-1695.

Collins A.; et. al. 2001. Immunity to Lawsonia intracellularis. Proc Leman Swine Conf 2001: 115-120.

From BIVI

Get further technical information

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica gives you access to several additional learning tools to ease your transition into vaccine-based ileitis management, including a new step-by-step drinking water vaccination training video on CD, moderated by swine practitioner Dr. Steve Henry. A vaccination checklist, guidelines for best application and a product information sheet are also available. Request free copies by e-mailing tritter@bi-vetmedica.com

Ileitis decision-making flow chart

Step I
Consider: Is ileitis present?

Consider one or more signs of possible ileitis exposure in the herd:

• Sub-optimum growth
• Sudden deaths at first market sort, possibly including bloody diarrhea
• Wide weight distributions
• Diarrhea

Step II
Confirm Lawsonia/pinpoint exposure timing

Use diagnostic tools to confirm that Lawsonia is present in the herd and to isolate the point in production at which animals are being exposed and infected:

• Live-animal blood tests can identify antibodies to Lawsonia, which indicates infection has occurred.

• The most cost-effective herd-level testing is done by “cross-sectional serological profiling:” testing a random sample of animals in several different age groups.

Step III

Is it possible to vaccinate 3-4 weeks prior to exposure?

Step IV

Limited judicious use of water or injectable antibiotics under veterinary supervision can be reserved to treat acute outbreaks that escape the planned control program.