Efficacy and cost benefit study on the use of Denagard for the treatment of Porcine Proliferative Enteropathy under

field conditions in Japan

M. Shimaoka1, K. Kubo1, S. Ohashi2, K. Kajiwara3, U. Klein4
1 3

Shokukanken Inc., Gunma, Japan, 2Nippon Zenyaku Kogyo Co., Ltd., Fukushima, Japan. Novartis Animal Health K.K., Tokyo, Japan, 4Novartis Animal Health Inc., Basel, Switzerland.

Introduction
Porcine Proliferative Enteropathy (PPE) caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium Lawsonia intracellularis is a common enteric disease worldwide affecting grower pigs between 6 to 20 weeks of age inducing decreased weight gain and feed efficacy, and sometimes death1. An epidemiological survey has confirmed high prevalence of PPE in Japan2. The objective of the trial was to investigate the effect of Denagard Premix (Tiamulin hydrogen fumarate, Novartis) medication in a Japanese farm with clinical history of PPE in comparison with Lincomix (Lincomycin hydrochloride, Pfizer).

and lower throughput. Pre-screening tests confirmed the presence of Lawsonia intracellularis, but absence of Brachyspira hyodysenteriae, Salmonella spp. and Rotavirus. Pigs were divided into 2 groups (23 pigs/pen) with tiamulin (TML; 6 pens) and lincomycin (LCM; 6 pens) medication, respectively. The trial started after pigs were weighed, sexed, ear tagged and randomly assigned. Pigs were treated (group 1: TML 100 ppm; group 2: LCM 110 ppm) via feed for 7 consecutive days at the beginning (30 kg bw) and in the middle (60 kg bw) of the fattening period. Animals were weighed to determine average daily weight gain (ADG) one day before onset of treatment, at day of slaughter or last day of the trial

pigs/dead pigs/light pigs and days to reach the market weight were also recorded. The trial was finished 120 days after onset of the fattening period. ADG and FCR were analyzed by the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitneytest. Cost benefit of each treatment was calculated. The value of carcasses was based on the price at Wholesale Carcass Price by Grade at Tokyo Market on Dec 28th, 2005 (excellent; 3.9, medium; 3.4, average; 3.0, out of grade; 3.92 $/kg, respectively).

Results and Discussion

The TML medicated group tended to show faster growth and achieved the market weight during a shorter time period.

Table 1. Comparative performance results

TML Number of pigs in Number of pigs slaughtered excellent Carcass grade slaughtered pigs Number of pigs died Number of light pigs Fattening period (days) ADG (kg) FCR Cumulative clinical score Day 0 Day 7 medium average out of grade 138 115 51 (44.3%) 41 (35.7%) 20 (17.4%) 3 (2.6%) 5 (3.6%) 18 (13.0%) 110.1 0.716 2.91 18 0 LCM 138 102 43 (42.2%) 43 (42.2%) 13 (12.7%) 3 (2.9%) 9 (6.5%) 27 (19.6%) 115.2 0.685 2.92 15 4

Material and Methods

Two hundred and seventy six crossbred pigs of mixed gender, approximately 13 weeks of age and averaging 30 kg of body weight (bw), were sourced from a herd of 600 breeding animals. The herd suffered from persistent PPE infections which resulted in longer fattening times

for those pigs that failed to reach market weight (110 kg). Clinical scores were recorded for faecal state, demeanour and general condition (score 0-3, 0=normal to 3=severe) at Day 0 and Day 7 of the 2nd treatment block to assess the effect of treatment. Feed consumption was recorded by each pen to determine feed conversion ratio (FCR). Numbers of culled

Table 2. Cost / Benefit evaluation

TML Carcass weight (kg) Total value carcass ($) a) Cost of pigs ($) b) Cost of feed ($) c) Cost of treatment ($) d) Yardage costs ($)1 Total costs (a+b+c+d; $) Benefit ($) Benefit/pig sold ($)
1Number

LCM 7483.0 38,360.15 20,437.61 10,373.16 83.50 1,850.21 32,577.93 5,811.78 57.02

8491.5 43,668.73 20,437.61 10,773.57 128.60 1,768.30 32,994.49 10,452.10 91.36

of pigs in x Fattening period x 0.08 8/pig/day

ADG and FCR were improved in the TML medicated pigs, but no significant differences were found vs. the LCM group. The carcass grade distribution of both groups had a similar pattern, and no significant difference was observed. The mortality rate, primarily based on respiratory diseases (Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae), was lower in the TML group (3.6%) than in the other group (6.5%). Lower number of light pigs was found in the TML group which resulted in lower body weight variation and more uniform pigs at slaughter. Improvement of clinical score was shown for the

TML group (Table 1). The cost benefit evaluation revealed a $91.21 benefit per pig sold for the TML group (n=115) and $29.50 benefit for the LCM group (n=102), respectively (Table 2).

References
1. Lawson GHK and Gebhart CJ. 2000. J. Comp. Path. 122:77-100. 2. Suto A, et al. 2004. J. Vet. Med. Sci. 66(5):547-549.

Conclusion
This trial shows the therapeutic effect of tiamulin in-feed medication against PPE. The improvements in the production parameters resulted in a higher benefit which proves the economic value of the tiamulin treatment.

Denagard is a registered trademark of Novartis AG, Basel, Switzerland. 2011 Novartis Animal Health Inc.