Escherichia coli Pre and Post-weaning Diarrhoea

Causal agent	Escherichia coli – E. coli. A gram negative rod bacteria
Age group	From birth to around 10 days of age. First few weeks post-weaning
Clinical signs
0-3 days	Sudden death, with very few clinical signs. Possibly some diarrhoea
3-10 days	Acute and chronic diarrhoea, pasty yellow colour. Piglets may be found dead, but most have clinical signs which lead to dehydration and ultimately death.
Post-weaning	Acute and chronic diarrhoea. Weaners may demonstrate ill-thrift. The diarrhoea progressively leads to dehydration and death.
Neonatal death		Diarrhoea in farrowing		Piglet with E. coli diarrhoea
Diarrhoea on the walls		Diarrhoea post-weaning		E. coli diarrhoea in weaners
Transmission
	E. coli are ubiquious (everywhere). Some types are more pathogenic depending on fimbiae. The organism may be easily transmitted around the farm.
Post-mortem Lesions
	There may be very few gross pathological findings. Dilated swollen small intestines fluid filled. Sometimes congestion of the stomach or small intestines may be seen. The intestinal contents will be alkaline.
	Gross-postmortem findings dilated small intestines and stomach		Loops of bowel with very watery alkaline diarrhoea

Diagnosis
			Drawing of the classification of Escherichia coli Pathogenic swine E. coli are normally classified by: Have one of the following four fimbriae (attachments) F4 (K88), F5 (K99), F6 (987P) or F41 Haemolytic. Produce toxins (exotoxins) – LT, Sta or STb. Most E. coli problems are associated with management and environmental factors, in particular draughts. Examination of the environment is an essential component to any diagnosis.
	As soon as scour starts, submit rectal swabs
	If piglets die, submit piglet for post-mortem examination
	If scour continues, submit live piglets before treatment
Treatment
Individual litters		Treat whole litter as soon as one piglet starts to show symptoms
		Place a trough drinker filled with water, electrolytes and glucose. This must be replaced at least 4 times daily. Keep clean
		If creep is provided, remove the creep
		All piglets to be given colostrum
		Administer antimicrobial oral dose measured doses once a day by mouth, see the practice. Ensure you do not use this medicator for healthy piglets
		Inject with a suitable antimicrobial.
		Clean up diarrhoea as soon as possible
		The stockpeople must wash their hands after treating the piglets and dip their boots in disinfectant
		Syringes or oral dosers must not be used on a sick piglet and then used on a healthy piglet
		If diarrhoea occurs after day 10 consider coccidiosis
Cross-fostering		Piglets movements must be carefully monitored. A lot of scouring is associated with fostering. Review cross-fostering protocols
Utensil movement		All rooms should have their own brush and shovel
		Each brush and shovel should be placed in disinfectant when not in use. Ensure disinfectant is still working
		Teeth clipping, tattooing, notching and tail docking equipment must be thoroughly cleaned between rooms
		Ensure that the rooms are thoroughly cleaned between batches
		Consider lime-washing to enhance hygiene and disinfection
Control		Pressure washing principles must be exemplary
		Practice lime washing if possible
		Practice all-in/all-out – pig flow
		If diarrhoea is a persistent problem have the environment examined in detail i.e. for draughts
		Ensure preventative protocols are adhered to, i.e. vaccination and feed-back
		F4 genetically resistant pigs are available but not used commercially. Do not select from sows/gilts who have any history of diarrhoea in the farrowing house. Over time this will select away from susceptibility towards E. coli types especially F4.
Common differentials
		Viral diarrhoea – normally acid intestinal contents. Coccidiosis
Zoonosis
		E. coli has the potential of being zoonotic

Pre-weaning Scour Protocols

Piglet treatments
1	Treat whole litter as soon as one piglet starts to show symptoms
2	Place a cube drinker filled with water, electrolytes and glucose. This must be replaced at least 4 times daily. Keep clean
3	If creep is provided, remove the creep
4	All piglets to be given colostrum
5	Administer antimicrobial oral dose measured doses once a day by mouth, see the practice. Ensure you do not use this medicator for healthy piglets
6	Inject with a suitable antimicrobial.
7	Clean up diarrhoea as soon as possible
8	The stockpeople must wash their hands after treating the piglets and dip their boots in disinfectant
9	Syringes or oral dosers must not be used on a sick piglet and then used on a healthy piglet
10	If diarrhoea occurs after day 10 consider coccidiosis
Cross-fostering
1	Piglets movements must be carefully monitored. A lot of diarrhoea is associated with fostering. Review cross-fostering protocols
Movements of utensils and people from one room to the next
2	All rooms should have their own brush and shovel
3	Each brush and shovel should be placed in disinfectant when not in use. Ensure disinfectant is still working
4	Teeth clipping, tattooing, notching and tail docking equipment must be thoroughly cleaned between rooms
5	Ensure that the rooms are thoroughly cleaned between batches
6	Consider lime-washing to enhance hygiene and disinfection
Investigation
1	As soon as diarrhoea starts, submit rectal swabs
2	If piglets die, submit piglet for post-mortem examination
3	If diarrhoea continues, submit live piglets before treatment
Long term
1	Pressure washing principles must be exemplary
2	Practice lime washing if possible
3	Practice all-in/all-out – pig flow
4	If scour is a persistent problem have the environment examined in detail i.e. for drafts
5	Ensure preventative protocols are adhered to, i.e. vaccination and feed-back

Classic “causes” of pre-weaning diarrhoea

1	A range of disease agents – E. coli, TGE, Coccidiosis, Clostridia, Rotovirus etc.
2	Almost any air movement is undesirable >0.2 m/sec (> 50 feet/min) is a draught
3	Chilling of the piglets, check lying patterns and creep temperatures (ideally 30•C)
4	Variable temperatures in the creep
5	Damp floors particularly in the creep area
6	Poor colostrum intake
7	No milk in the sows, check udder line – mycotoxins and management
8	Degree of cross-fostering
9	Piglet treatments not been clean enough, Check cross-contamination between healthy and sick piglets
10	Infection transfer - is there a separate brush and scrape for each room, foot baths, personal hygiene
11	Poor room cleaning between batches
12	Number of sows farrowing each week, application of all-in all out and pig flow
13	Presence of udder oedema
14	Amount of navel bleeding
15	Type of iron injection utilised, more post-weaning scour
16	Vaccine storage protocols

As part of the investigation, if post-mortem examinations are required, select an acutely sick piglet, not a chronic piglet which is likely to have secondary infections which may mask the actual causal agent(s).