title: Prevention of necrotic enteritis in piglets by vaccination of pregnant gilts with a Clostridium perfringens type C and D bacterin-toxoid.
abstract: On a large pig farm with a known history of necrotic enteritis 12 pregnant gilts were vaccinated s. c. 7 and 2 weeks before expected farrowing with a commercial bacterin-toxoid preparation of toxigenic strains C. perfringens type C and D (DizevakR-Pliva, Zagreb). At the farrowing the titers of beta-antitoxins in serum samples from vaccinated gilts ranged from 9.0 to 26.0 IU/ml with a mean value of 14.16 IU/ml. Colostral titers varied from 12.0 IU/ml with a mean of 16.12 IU/ml. On the second day of life the mean serum titers between litters differed greatly from 4.75 to 24.0 IU/ml. By the age of 7 days the average serum titers were commonly lower and varied between the litters from 2.25 to 15.0 IU/ml, with a low of 1.5 to a high of 16.0 IU/ml in single animals. Ten (8.47%) out of a total of 118 piglets from vaccinated gilts died during the first 7 days of life but the losses were not caused by C. perfringens infection. In unvaccinated control animals 18 (15.9%) of 113 piglets died, eleven of them with clinical and pathoanatomical signs of necrotic enteritis. The affected piglets predominantly succumbed in the first 4 days of life. These data indicate that the investigated bacterin-toxoid can be successfully used in immunoprophylaxis of necrotic enteritis in piglets.
authors.affiliation: PLIVA, Pharmaceutical Chemical, Food and Cosmetic Industry, Research Institute, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kelnerić
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Naglić
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Udovicić
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003016:Clostridium perfringens / Q000276:immunology*; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D011247:Pregnancy; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014121:Toxoids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000662:veterinary*; D015164:Vaccines, Inactivated
chemical_list: D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D014121:Toxoids; D015164:Vaccines, Inactivated