A new era in ileitis control is developing as the research and commercial farm studies using an ileitis vaccine delivered via drinking water proceed.

Vaccination of livestock is crucial to developing specific immune resistance to diseases otherwise costing producers billions of dollars. In Canada, a pilot experiment has been carried out to investigate the practical potential of a low-pressure jet to administer vaccine to swine.

The sensitivity and specificity of a serological test to distinguish vaccinated pigs from those naturally infected with classical swine fever (CSF) is proven and was accepted by the European Commission on the 5 December 2003. The test kit introduces new opportunities for control of CSF using a marker vaccination system, whether in emergency outbreak situations in CSF-free countries or for monitoring infection in a vaccinated population within CSF-infected regions.

Swine veterinarians created a new vaccine to help to battle diarrhoea associated with Clostridium perfringens, type A. The vaccine is available under a USDA conditional license for use in pigs.

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae induced enzootic pneumonia is a costly disease in grower pigs. For many years vaccination has been shown to be an appropriate tool to reduce both clinical signs and economic losses, but the benefit to cost relationship still needs to be carefully considered. During unprofitable market situations it is particularly questioned whether the benefits of vaccination justify the costs.

Two large North American operations have experience in using the vaccine against ileitis, recently launched across 19 European countries. Both companies consider the vaccine to be an extremely effective tool, but have introduced a strict protocol and dedicated personnel to manage its storage, handling and administration.

Field study results from various regions in Germany where vaccination has been used to fight ileitis support the basic rule that ‘prevention is better than treatment’. None of the veterinarians dismiss the importance of analysing the economic advantages, however, particularly considering the progress in vaccine developments.

The intra-dermal route of vaccination could replace the traditional needle in the future as application devices become available to ensure accurate dosing of the vaccine for safe and efficacious protection. Paolo Martelli for the University of Parma, Italy highlights the practical advantages for producers.

In the final part of ‘change is our opportunity’, data from five field studies using the first ileitis vaccine has been economic benefit across a number of experiments.

Enterisol® Ileitis is the first enteric vaccine to have received marketing authorization in the EU to improve pig’s weight gain and to reduce body weight variability.