Is treating ending pigs for swine respiratory illness the correct choice?
18 February 2025
6 minute learn
Dr. Dave Baumert, senior technical providers veterinarian with Zoetis Pork, spoke with The Pig Website’s Sarah Mikesell concerning the use or non-use of remedy therapies for swine respiratory illness.
Dr. Baumert, are you able to make clear what our focus is immediately relative to the producer or veterinarian’s choice not to deal with ending pigs for swine respiratory illness?
When it comes to non-use, what we’re not speaking about immediately is a manufacturing system the place the pigs are being raised in an antibiotic free (ABF) or no antibiotic ever (NAE) sort program. Pigs that want remedy are nonetheless handled. They’re merely faraway from the premium program.
What I do need to speak about particularly immediately is the scenario the place a producer deliberately or typically subconsciously decides to not medicate pigs when, in actuality, there might be a profit to utilizing antibiotic remedy of their ending pigs.
Why would possibly producers make the choice to not present antibiotic remedy, particularly for finisher pigs?
Typically, there are three situations the place a producer would possibly inadvertently resolve to have a non-use program.
- Producers should not in a position to establish the pigs that might profit from remedy
- There’s a restricted quantity of expert labor obtainable to do the therapies
- Not absolutely understanding the price of remedy versus non-treatment
Dave, let’s speak about every of these situations in slightly bit extra depth, beginning with failure to establish pigs in want of remedy. How can producers overcome that problem?
In a typical industrial finisher operation, there are two illness points that pigs may typically profit from antibiotic remedy – lameness and respiratory illness.
The essential factor is that in each of these circumstances early remedy leads to a lot better outcomes than later remedy throughout the illness course. When it comes to respiratory illness particularly, we’re a lot better off if we are able to deal with these pigs after they’re simply beginning to look slightly bit torpid or when these pigs are respiratory just a bit heavier than their pen mates.
Then again, if we wait till the pigs are coughing severely or thumping arduous as a result of they weren’t recognized early, our remedy outcomes are a lot poorer. A coaching program to assist producers or animal caregivers establish pigs in want of remedy sooner within the stage of illness can be extraordinarily useful.
Zoetis has an Particular person Pig Care program which is also referred to as the ABC Pig Care program. Zoetis trains producers and caregivers on the best way to establish pigs earlier in the midst of illness, in order that when pigs are handled with an acceptable antibiotic, these pigs will recuperate with a a lot better success fee.1-2
How does labor impression the choice to deal with or not deal with?
Labor shortages, particularly the scarcity of expert labor, is a problem within the swine business. With out expert labor, we bodily haven’t got the individuals obtainable to deal with pigs even when we may establish them. Having the ability to have expert labor on the farm to not solely monitor pigs’ each day progress however to deal with them when wanted is essential.
As a result of it’s scarce, labor comes with a value. If we’ve a product resembling EXCENEL®
RTU EZ (ceftiofur hydrochloride) Sterile Suspension, which is ready-to-use and doesn’t require intensive mixing or a mix of elements, that sort of product within the palms of our labor will be capable of deal with pigs extra promptly and extra successfully. In different phrases, it can really lower the price of remedy, even within the face of a labor scarcity.
From an financial standpoint, how ought to producers take into consideration the price of remedy versus non-treatment?
The price of remedy – the only a part of that’s the price of the product getting used. So, for one thing so simple as EXCENEL RTU EZ, it’s merely the price of six mL to deal with a 200 lb. pig per day.
One other price, as we mentioned earlier, that goes with remedy therapies is labor. Something we are able to do to ease the period of time or effort to manage a product reduces the price of remedy.
The opposite price in all probability most misunderstood is what the precise price of non-treatment is because it pertains to efficiency. That is the place the massive {dollars} actually begin to add up.
So how do efficiency outcomes impression this choice and the economics?
The choice to have an lively remedy program versus a non-use program is commonly based mostly on a misunderstanding of the price of efficiency. With EXCENEL RTU EZ, we’ve an authorized product for the management of 4 main swine illness pathogens. These being Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (APP), Pasteurella multocida, Streptococcus suis and Salmonella choleraesuis.
In a current APP problem examine, pigs that had obtained EXCENEL RTU EZ had an 81% discount in mortality and an 84% discount in lung lesions in comparison with their non-treated cohorts.3
If we have been to decide on a non-use program somewhat than an efficient antibiotic use program, it might shortly grow to be apparent {that a} non-use program the place we surrender a possible alternative to considerably enhance mortality and lung lesion charges can be far costlier than an precise use program.
What’s crucial factor for swine producers to remove?
After we take a look at the explanations for non-use and study every of these, it turns into intuitively apparent {that a} non-use program is simply not sustainable in fashionable pork manufacturing. When we’ve instruments like EXCENEL RTU EZ at our disposal, we see that this can be a dependable, easy-to-use product that may enhance swine welfare whereas growing each swine well being and manufacturing.
Even within the face of labor shortages, the truth that EXCENEL RTU EZ is ready-to-use means we don’t must spend an prolonged period of time mixing, shaking and making ready the product. That makes the product simpler and extra environment friendly to make use of on the farm and thereby helps management our prices, making a use program far more efficient than a non-use program.4
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION: Individuals with recognized hypersensitivity to penicillin or cephalosporins ought to keep away from publicity to EXCENEL RTU EZ. Don’t use in swine discovered to be hypersensitive. Withdraw 6 days previous to slaughter when injection website volumes are better than 5 mL as much as 15 mL per injection website and 4 days previous to slaughter when injection website volumes are lower than or equal to five mL per injection website. See full Prescribing Info at Excenelpork.com/PI.
1 Pantoja L, Kuhn M, Farrand E, et al. Affect of a Husbandry Schooling Program on nursery pig mortality, productiveness, and remedy price. Journal of Swine Well being and Manufacturing [serial online]. 2013;21 (4):188-194. Accessible from: CAB Abstracts, Ipswich, MA. Accessed Might 1, 2018.
2 Pineiro C, Morales J, Doncecchi P, et al. Particular person Pig Care program improves productive efficiency and animal well being in nursery-growing pigs. Journal of Swine Well being and Manufacturing [serial online]. 2014;22 (6):296-299. Accessible from: CAB Abstracts, Ipswich, MA. Accessed August 1, 2018.
3 Bowersock, T. L., Meeuwse, D. M., Kausche, F. M., Lucas, M. J., Bryson, W. L. and Dame, Okay.J. Efficacy of ceftiofur crystalline free acid and ceftiofur hydrochloride administered intramuscularly in swine inoculated with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. Pharmacia Animal Well being. 2001.
4 Information on file, Research Doc No. ZRD-PSC-004402, Zoetis Inc.
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