AGRIBUSINESS: Coccidiosis in piglets.

AGRIBUSINESS: Coccidiosis in piglets. Coccidiosis is a major cause of diarrhea in piglets that have long-term effects on health and performance,though its relatively under-diagnosed its a global concern. The problems of piglet diarrhea, includes high mortality, poor performance and susceptibility to other diseases because of secondary bacteria infection. The diarrhoea is usually yellow or gray and pasty.. AGRIBUSINESS: Coccidiosis in piglets. The primary cause of coccidiosis in piglets is the parasite Isospora suis, which is a pig-specific coccidia. There are other coccidial species that can infect pigs, but they don’t commonly cause disease. Coccidial oocysts that are shed from infected animals can survive on the farm for months or even years. Ingesting oocysts still present in the environment, usually from previous litters by piglets is the common route of infection. When ingested, the oocyst in the small intestine undergoes some of developmental stages, which takes five to seven days before new oocysts are formed. Each stage invades and multiplies within cells then bursts out. This destroys the infected cells, which in turn damages the gut, leading to diarrhea. Once the new oocysts are shed in the feces, they go through a short maturation process in the environment before being ready to infect a new host. AGRIBUSINESS: Coccidiosis in piglets. Prevention strategies like hygiene and biosecurity will help to reduce the incidence of many types of diarrhea. However, it is important to know the cause in order to treat effectively and implement a specific control plan. Clinical signs of coccidiosis can be seen in pigs as early as six days of age to about three weeks old. This is consistent with them becoming infected soon after birth, which is when they are most susceptible. As coccidiosis is the most frequent cause of diarrhea in piglets between six and 15 days of age,they will have poor body condition, be dehydrated and with a rough coat . The diarrhea is pale yellow or grey and very pasty. Antibiotic treatment with sulphonamides ,treating animals with clinical signs is strongly advised. If the diagnosis is uncertain fecal samples can be taken for oocyst identification and count at the This is to prevent losses as well as reducing ongoing damage to the gut. In order to prevent clinical signs of coccidiosis, many pig producers treat all piglets on a farm at three to five days of age.