A new one-shot vaccine against oedema disease, which can cause piglet mortality of up to 10% in affected herds, is being launched by Hysolv Animal Health in the UK and Ireland.
The vaccine, Ecoporc Shiga, is reported by the company to “induce a high level of immunity against shiga toxin”, which is produced by the E.coli bacteria which cause oedema. Â Hysolv also said that the vaccine has proved “highly successful” in Germany, where it was developed by IDT Biologika.
“Oedema is a lethal infectious disease seen in pig production,” said Hysolv. “It primarily occurs in piglets during the first weeks after weaning and is caused by a proliferation of shiga toxin-producing E coli bacteria. It causes serious losses to the pig industry, resulting in a high rate of mortality among infected pigs. In individual herds up to 10% of piglets can die; Â often the heaviest pigs, with those that survive remaining runt-like.”
Hysolv director, Richard Brealey, added: “Vaccines such as Ecoporc Shiga can significantly reduce the use of antibiotics in piglet rearing, acting as a preventative measure in a welfare-focused and cost-effective way. We are advising producers to work closely with their vets on this.” Â
The company’s advice is for piglets to be injected intramuscularly with a single 1 ml dose of Ecoporc Shiga from four days old.
“Immunity develops within 21 days and lasts over the whole of the critical rearing and finishing phase,” said Hysolv, adding that in a comparative study involving 319 pigs no mortality was recorded among the vaccinated group compared with 11.4% in the unvaccinated control group.
“A German calculation showed a reduction in margin of 83 Euros (£74) per sow or 41,000 Euros (£32,500) for a 500-sow herd,” said the company.Â