Faecal sam- pling technique from an individ- ual piglet after stimulation with a cotton swab. The con- sistency of the faeces and fre- quency of the diarrhoea should be assessed.
coccidiosis in the field, each with different sensitivities, sampling requirements, and workloads. Flotation-based methods are the most frequently used and are a good tool for diagnosis of C. suis under field conditions. Sever- al modifications are available for this method and these can also be used for quantification of oocysts per gramme of faeces (OpG), while other methods are semi-quantitative or purely qualitative. For example, compared to the flotation method, the autofluorescence (AF) method is more sensitive and is a semi-quantitative way to detect for the presence of oocysts in the faeces of infected piglets. Thus, the AF technique is often pre- ferred in trials comparing the efficacies of different products and strategies.
○ Iron deficiency anaemia diagnostics IDA is usually diagnosed in field surveys by evaluating the Hb concentrations in piglets at the time of weaning (Sperling et al., 2018; 2020), and it is also used to assess the haematinic efficacy of different iron-based products and programmes. Other parameters can be evaluated in the laboratory with more precision, including the eryth- rocyte count (RBC), haematocrit (Ht), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular Hb (MCH) and mean corpuscular Hb concentration (MCHC). The plasma iron concentration and total iron binding ca- pacity (TIBC) can also be determined by colorimetric as- says. Some of these parameters are considered early in- dicators of IDA because they change before the Hb level changes. The Hb status is categorised based on current accepted standards as follows: < 90 g/litre = clinical anaemia, 90–110 g/litre = sub-optimal status, and > 110 g/litre = optimal Hb level (Bhattarai & Nielsen, 2015).
○ Recommendations for field surveys • The HemoCue® machine can be used for field surveys and to evaluate the efficiency of different iron-based products in farm programmes (Maes et al., 2011).
• At least 10 litters per group (for comparative trials) or per farm (screening and diagnosis of status) should be tested. Litters should be randomly selected consider- ing the parity of the sows in order to represent the structure of the farm.
• Three randomly selected piglets (one small, one medi- um and one large) from each selected litter should be tested.
• Sampling should be carried out on selected piglets before the application of treatments to precisely as- sess and monitor their haematinic status.
• To more precisely evaluate and compare haematinic products, the piglets used for Hb evaluation should be weighed both at the time of their inclusion as well as at the end of the trial. This also allows the precise determination of the use of injected iron by calculating the Hb replenishment efficiency (HRE%).
○ The current prevalences of Iron deficiency anaemia and coccidiosis in selected EU countries (Hinney et al., 2020) A total of 49 farms from Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Spain were included in this recent study, which described prevalence of coccidiosis in selected EU countries. Repeated pooled samples from 603 litters were collected in the second and third weeks of piglet life. The samples were examined by AF for the presence of C. suis, and faecal consistency was also scored. In addition, a questionnaire was completed by each farm to document
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