Latest Pig Industry News
Withdrawal of antibiotic growth promoters
UK - Within the next 12 months, antibiotic growth promoters will be withdrawn from sale in Europe. The few remaining products have antibacterial activity against gut pathogens.
For example, avilamycin is effective against Lawsonia intracellularis, the cause of ileitis, while salinomycin is effective against Brachyspira pilosicoli, a cause of colitis. Removal of these products has already produced anecdotal reports of increases in disease, points out Mark White veterinary consultant to JSR Genetics.
As with all enteric pathogens, hygiene is critical, with the greatest risk coming from solid-floor systems, where faecal recycling is continuous and regular cleaning out is not practised.
In fully-slatted, all-in, all-out systems, where there is routine washing out and disinfection, the challenge is reduced and less disease is expected. Conversely, in such systems the efficacy of the growth promoter is lower as it has less to control.
Producers may therefore need to rethink housing systems to reduce the recycling of dung and urine as the industry moves into a period of reduced control. This situation highlights the tensions that exist between disease management and perceived welfare issues relating to housing systems, he says.
Source: JSR Genetics - 13th April 2005
