Post-weaning diarrhea is a multifactorial disease that negatively impacts animal welfare and causes economic losses. Separation from the sow is stressful for piglets: a new barn environment, a change in feed, the loss of maternal antibodies via sow's milk, and new pen mates. The barn climate can also influence the occurrence of post-weaning diarrhea. The combination of these stressors makes the young animals susceptible to environmental pathogens. One example of a pathogen that can be responsible for severe cases is pathogenic E. coli bacteria. These are ingested orally by the piglets, adhere to the intestinal wall, and cause significant damage to the intestinal mucosa. Even if the infection is detected and treated with antibiotics in time, the intestinal wall is sometimes already damaged to such an extent that the affected piglets can no longer reach their optimal performance potential. To minimize the use of antibiotics and economic losses, infections must be effectively prevented. In addition to a list of management measures, including restricted feeding, optimized barn hygiene, and feed acidity, the application of a herd-specific vaccine to prevent weaning diarrhea is also conceivable. The effectiveness of this preventative measure will be investigated in this project.
Project duration: March 1, 2026 - December 31, 2029
Project goals
The aim of this project is to develop a farm-specific vaccine for the pig population of the HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein experimental farm (Wels/Thalheim location) to reduce post-weaning diarrhea based on the herd's specific bacterial spectrum. The Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) is the project partner and center of expertise for vaccine development and the determination of the bacterial spectrum. The herd-specific bacterial spectrum will be determined using fecal swab samples. In a further step, we aim to collect and document scientifically sound data on the incidence of post-weaning diarrhea and the weight development of vaccinated piglets. After determining the vaccine's efficacy, a cost analysis will be prepared to assess the economic viability of using such a farm-specific vaccine. This will provide an assessment of its cost-effectiveness (vaccine costs, treatment costs, and economic losses due to delayed growth).
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