used. Significant differences in the percentage of anae- mic piglets were also observed for different forms of iron: dextran, gleptoferron and the oral form (16.2%, 7.9% and 34.3%, respectively; p < 0.0001). The effect of the size of the piglets and parity was not significant, although more large piglets and piglets from young sows were anaemic (p = 0.07999 and p = 0.34662, respectively).
○ Conclusions • In this survey, differences in the prevalence of IDA were observed among different EU countries, and in total 14.7% of the piglets were anaemic.
• Use of the oral form of iron, low parity sows (1–2 far- rowings) and large piglet size seemed to be risk fac- tors for IDA at the time of weaning.
• Gleptoferron outperformed Dextran in this screening (7.9% versus 16.2% anaemic piglets).
○ Forceris® – the first and patented injectable combination product for concomitant preven- tion of coccidiosis and iron deficiency anaemia IDA and coccidiosis, caused by C. suis are common in suckling piglets. Until recently, most piglets were treated with an injectable iron preparation in the first days of life to prevent IDA as well as with oral toltrazuril for piglet coccidiosis metaphylaxis. Forceris® is the first combina- tion product registered in the EU for the concomitant prevention of IDA and the clinical signs of coccidiosis (di- arrhoea) as well as for reducing oocyst excretion in pig- lets. The product is administered by a single intramuscu- lar injection (a 1.5 ml fixed dose containing 45 mg toltrazuril + 200 mg iron in the form of gleptoferron), 24- 96 hours after birth (Joachim et al., 2018a). The efficacy of Forceris® and the oral toltrazuril-based
Figure 7 - Mean oocyst excretion expressed as the number of oocysts per gram of faeces (OpG) on study day (SD) 7, 9, 11, 13, 17, and 21 for piglets treated with a combination of toltrazuril and iron (IVP) or with iron only (Control).
20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000 140000 160000 180000
0 SD 7 SD 9
SD 11 Study day (SD)
SD 13 SD 17 SD 21 IVP Control
Figure 6 - Prevalence of McMaster countable excretion (Joachim et al., 2018)
60 50
40 30 20
10 0
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Forceris
Competitor 1 Study Days
15 16 17 18 19 20 Control
suspension Competitor 1 against experimentally in- duced piglet cystoisosporiasis were compared in a blind- ed experimental study. All the animals in the control group shed oocysts for an average of 3.1 days and they all presented diarrhoea for an average of five days. Treat- ment with Forceris® completely suppressed oocyst ex- cretion, while low levels of excretion were detected both by flotation and AF methods in the oral treatment group. Body weight increases were lower in the control group compared to the treated groups and diarrhoea was limit- ed to individual piglets in both the treated groups. Another study investigated the efficacy and safety of Forceris® for the control of coccidiosis due to C. suis in the field on five European commercial pig farms in France, Germany, and Spain (Hiob et al., 2019). In this work, 122 litters consisting of 1,508 piglets, were select- ed and randomly allocated to one of two treatment groups: in the first group each piglet received a single in- tramuscular injection of Forceris®, while the control group received a single intramuscular treatment of iron at 200 mg per piglet. The piglet body weights, faecal scores and OpGs were recorded for 21 days. The efficacy of Forceris® for the control of coccidiosis was shown as higher bodyweight gains, a lower percentage of animals with diarrhoea, fewer samples with positive OpG counts, and a lower excretion peak and reduced OpG area under the curve from study days 4 to 21. Thus, compared to conventional iron-only treatments, the combination of toltrazuril and gleptoferron provided an effective approach and reduced the necessity for stress- ful interventions in neonatal piglets, which are common- ly required to treat C. suis infections. In another randomised, blinded parallel study, the effica- cy and safety of Forceris® and other iron-containing products such as iron dextran for the prevention of IDA in suckling piglets were compared (Sperling et al., 2018). Newborn piglets were treated with 200 mg iron supplied either as Forceris® (gleptoferron; n = 13) or iron dextran based product (iron dextran; n = 12) 24–48 hours after birth. Blood samples were collected before and after treatment (on days 2, 18, and 31 of life) for a complete
6
Mean oocysts per gram of faeces (OPG)
% Animals with pos. OpG
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