Handling may cause increased shedding of Escherichia coli and total coliforms in pigs.
Many common management practices such as transportation, weaning, handling, and changes in social groups are stressful to animals. The effects of stressors on the intestinal microbial ecosystem are still being investigated. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of handling on naturally occurring intestinal populations of Escherichia coli and total coliforms in swine. Finishing pigs were subjected to repeated handling, in which they were removed from their pens each day, moved down an alley to a scale, weighed individually, and moved back to their pens. This procedure was performed with the control groups once at the beginning and once at the end of the study, while treatment groups were herded and weighed each day for 8 days. Most probable numbers (MPN)/g of E. coli (a subset of the coliform group) and total coliforms were measured daily for treatment and control groups. Using repeated measures analyses, increased MPN/g of feces, for both E. coli and total coliforms, were seen in the treatment groups compared to the control groups (P < 0.03). These data indicate that handling may affect fecal shedding of E. coli and total coliforms, possibly due to stress, and these populations of bacteria may have potential utility as inexpensive, noninvasive indicators of handling-related stress in pigs.
Dowd
Scot E
SE
Livestock Issues Research Unit, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Lubbock, TX 79403, USA. sdowd@lbk.ars.usda.gov
Callaway
Todd R
TR
Morrow-Tesch
Julie
J
D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000662:veterinary; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000662:veterinary; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011897:Random Allocation; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission*