NEWS ▶▶▶ Testing kefir as feed ingredient for piglets
In an attempt to find alternatives to antibiotics and zinc oxide in diets for piglets post-wean- ing, a new study at Ghent University in Bel- gium will zoom in on the use of kefir as a feed ingredient. Farm and veterinary practitioners are still invited for the new project. Kefir is an acid fermented milk product, con- taining numerous probiotic bacteria that have been shown to protect against enteric viral and bacterial pathogens, stimulate both innate and adaptive immunity and provide a contin- ued liquid feed to which the gut of piglets is enzymatically adapted. Ghent University in Belgium is a well-known knowledge institute for antibiotic reduction worldwide. The university’s Professor Jeroen Dewulf together with Dr Anna Catharina Berge, of Berge Veterinary Consulting, there- fore embraced the opportunity to test kefir as a multifunctional feed additive to reduce post-weaning diarrhoea. The potential to use it, however, has not been fully evaluated in pig production, they said. The upcoming small pilot study aims to
Fly larvae can replace soybean meal
evaluate whether supplementing post-wean- ing piglets’ feed with kefir could reduce diar- rhoea occurrence and severity in piglets after weaning, and thereby reduce prophylactic and metaphylactic antimicrobial use for this indica- tion. For the study, a commercial raw cow milk kefir will be used, produced by the Raw Milk Company, based in the Netherlands. The study will take place at commercial pig farms and will be used to further investigate if on-farm fermented kefir can be used to reduce post-weaning disease challenges in piglets. More info:
cat@bergevetconsulting.com.
ASF Genotype I also reported in China
The African Swine Fever (ASF) situation in China has become more complex now that Chinese scientists have also reported the emergence of ASF viruses of genotype I in the country, lead- ing to chronic infections. Genotype I was the strain that was around in Portugal and Spain for various decades in the 20th century and is currently endemic on the Italian island Sardinia. The ASF virus that made its (re-)entrance in Europe and Asia in 2007 was genotype II – a different and more virulent strain. The scientists, attached to the Harbin Veteri- nary Research Institute, Chinese Academy for Agricultural Science in Harbin, concluded in their article in Emerging Microbes & Infections that the emergence of genotype I ASF viruses “will present more problems and challenges for the control and prevention of African Swine Fever in China”. The scientists identified two viruses of gen- otype I in Shandong and Henan provinces. Finisher pigs in Henan developed weight loss, intermittent fever, skin ulcers and arthritis. The
Shandong strain was found to combine low virulence with efficient transmissibility in pigs, causing “mild onset of infection and chronic disease”. The researchers wrote that phylogenetic analy- sis of the whole genome sequences suggested that both isolates share high similarity with two genotype I ASF viruses isolated in Portugal in 1968 and 1988. In a response, the US-based Swine Health Information Center assessed how widespread the emerged genotype could be. The article, authored by Dr Dan Rock, University of Illinois, says, “Given their reduced virulence and transmissibility characteristics, it is reasonable to assume these viruses also may be present in other regions of China and South-East Asia.” The source of these viruses and the nature of their introduction into China is unclear; Dr Rock wrote, “They may have originated from a European source – possibly imported legally or illegally to be evaluated as potential ASF vaccine candidates in China.”
Black soldier fly larvae can replace soybean meal as a protein source in the feed of growing pigs, according to researchers in the Nether- lands. The larvae are potentially a more suitable and sustainable protein source as they can be grown on waste and residual streams from food production, say the researchers at Wagen- ingen University & Research and Leiden Univer- sity in the Netherlands. They conducted a trial to determine the effect on pigs fed black sol- dier fly larvae compared to soybean meal. The trial was conducted with two groups of growing pigs. One group was fed a diet with regular soybean meal as a protein source, while the other was fed a diet with black soldier fly larvae as the protein source. Data from the trial were gathered on the microbiota of the small intestine and metabolites in the blood of the pigs. “This is called the FeedOmics approach,” said Dr Soumya Kanti Kar, scientist at Wagenin- gen Livestock Research, noting that this ap- proach helps to determine the impact of the diet locally (in the intestines) and systemically (in the blood). “FeedOmics thereby provides a detailed and thorough snapshot of the re- sponse to a black soldier fly–based diet in pigs. “The pigs fed insect larvae had increased levels of Bifidobacterium bacteria, which have been shown to have a positive effect on human and animal health. We also found evidence that the insect diet was able to suppress harmful bacte- ria. Furthermore, amine metabolite profiles in blood plasma showed the ability of the black soldier fly larvae to provide functional proper- ties that could be beneficial to pig health and performance beyond their ability to provide amino acids as building blocks for protein synthesis,” said Dr Kar.
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▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 37, No. 10, 2021 41
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
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