On-demand: Gut health seminar at VIV Asia 2025
Pig Progress was present at VIV Asia in Bangkok, Thailand, with 2 well frequented seminars. “Gut health” was one of the themes that was highlighted, on Wednesday, March 12. This article offers a quick recap and obviously the entire seminar can be re-viewed as well.
The seminar featured 3 expert speakers in the field of gut health. The seminar, which lasted just over 1 hour, was introduced by Prof Dr Alongkot Boonsoongnern. He is lecturer at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand. He zoomed in on strategies how to manipulate gut health to reduce antibiotic use on pig farms.
Prof Alongkot touched on current Thai regulations with regard to antibiotic use since 2017. This led to colistin only being allowed under veterinary authorisation, various antibiotics have been banned from use in feed mills and also standard operation procedures have been launched for rational drug use.
He touched on various factors which could affect gut health on pig farms, like e.g. biosecurity, the housing facility (ventilation), water and feed quality and safety, the feeding techniques used (e.g. liquid feeding) and of course the usage of feed additives.
Boosting gut health in piglets
Boosting gut health in piglets was the topic of the presentation of Yoko Noguchi, who spoke on behalf of animal health and nutrition company IFF. She started off by summing up the “why’s” behind suboptimal gut health, e.g. an immature digestive tract, weaning stress and a susceptibility to disease.
She introduced the probiotic Enviva Pro, a blend of three Bacillus strains. She discussed how the solution improves performance in pigs, for instance on average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR).
The future of oral vaccination
Last but not least, Dr Rutger Jansen shared his views – he is senior technical service manager at Boehringer Ingelheim. He spoke about gel vaccination against ileitis, caused by Lawsonia intracellularis. After having discussed what problems the bacteria can cause – as well as having presented the oral vaccine which the company has been marketing for many years, he moved on to explain about the novel administration method.
Gel vaccination, he said, is a “labour-saving, stress-free method,” he said. It comes down to preparation of the gel (Underline Gel, Animal Science Products), a mixing with water and vaccination by spraying it on the floors of the farrowing pens. “The piglets, if you see how they interact with the gel, they just love it.” He presented also efficacy trials, showing that the method led to a similar wean-to-finish ADG and mortality, compared to water administration.
