Anyone who chooses to engage in pig breeding should understand that his charges will require special care and attention. And it's not only in the organization of the process of nutrition. It is worth having at least a minimum theoretical training regarding the features of the anatomy of pigs, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of their diseases. After all, often the most innocuous, at first glance, diarrhea in a piglet is fraught with death, if you do not know how to treat it.
In order to help you consider the features of prevention, diagnosis, pathogenesis and treatment of the most common disease of pigs - colibacteriosis, also known under the names of colibacillosis, colibacillosis, colidiarrhea.
What kind of disease and how dangerous it is
Escherichiosis is common in many countries, especially those that are characterized by poor sanitary and veterinary conditions. Colibacteriosis in animals is acute infectious disease of young. As for exclusively piglets, the disease most often affects "babies" - from 3 to 7 days, a little less from 7 to 14 days. Also, the disease is prone to two-four-month-old piglets and those who have just been taken away from the sow, which is caused by changes in the feeding process. The incubation period for colibacillosis is from several hours to two or three days. 
The disease has a high death rate. The surviving piglets have a depleted appearance, the weight of their body decreases sharply.
Did you know? About 10-30% of piglets who become sick with colibacillosis at the milk age (1-14 days after birth) die.The disease most often manifests itself in autumn and winter, due to the deterioration of climatic conditions, sharp temperature leaps. In large industrial complexes and in pig farms, the colibacteriosis of piglets can reach the level of an epidemic, since during the course of farrowing, the lightning speed moves from one litter to another and infects new units.
Causative Agent and Routes of Infection
The causative agent is an enteric pathogen. Escherichia E. coli (Escherichia coli), belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae, of the genus Escherichia. Escherichia has adhesive (cell sticking) and toxic properties, known as a gram-negative bacillus with rounded ends. 
The stick is not prone to the formation of capsules and spores. Favorable environment for Escherichia is soil, manure, water; it feels great at +37 ° C. In the listed conditions the stick is viable for 1-2 months. Premises with animals - an optimum habitat of an intestinal stick.
Did you know? Of the 250 species of Escherichia for piglets, 30 are pathogenic.The pathogen can enter the body of young stock through colostrum, feed, water, manure. Escherichia can also lie low in the litter and animal care items contaminated with urine and feces.
Basically, the disease is transmitted alimentary, less aerogenic or in utero. A potential source of infection is pigs that have already undergone colibacillosis, or those that are carriers of Escherichia sticks. According to research, about 40% of adult individuals of adult gilts carry this stick in themselves, the percentage of infected nursing sows is much higher - 92.3%.Pathogenesis
A lot of pig breeders, having first encountered colibacteriosis in pigs, rush around in panic in search of an answer to the question of what kind of a disease it is, and at the same time lose valuable time. For rapid diagnosis it is necessary to know some of the nuances of the pathogenesis of collopsis. 
The high incidence rate of newborn piglets is explained by their anatomical, physiological and immunological features of their body. Have baby pig still the functions of all organs are not adjusted, the body is poorly adapted to habitat change. An insufficient amount of mucus is secreted in the intestines of newborn piglets, the acidity and bactericidal action of intestinal juice in the esophageal passages is significantly reduced, and the barrier function of the liver is not yet properly activated. The combination of these factors provokes low resistance of the organism to diseases.
Important! Maturation of the digestive tract of piglets occurs somewhere in the age of two months. That is why during the first two months of life, piglets should very carefully select their diet and observe the sanitary and veterinary standards of care.Escherichia freely penetrates the body of a small pig and begins to multiply rapidly. At the same time, bacteria secrete exo- and endotoxic substances, which lead to rapid intoxication of the whole organism.
Penetration of Escherichia sticks into the blood and lymph causes acute septicemia. The adsorption of Escherichia on the hairy cells of the epithelium of the mucous membrane of the small intestine provokes acute inflammation and sharp dehydration of the body. The cause of dehydration is acute diarrhea.Check out other diseases of pigs, such as: erysipelas, pasteurellosis, parakeratosis, African plague.
Signs of infection
Symptoms of colibacillosis are diarrhea, dehydration, acute intoxication, fever up to 40-42 ° C, septicemia (progressive spread of infection throughout the body with severe damage to various organs), rapid depletion of the body. Enteritis (inflammation of the mucous membranes of the small intestine), enterotoxemic (edematous) and septic forms of the disease course are distinguished. 
Regarding the stages of the disease, distinguish the following:
- subacute stage traced in young (3-5 days from birth) and is accompanied by the following symptoms: diarrhea and dehydration;
- for acute stage the diseases are characterized by diarrhea, dehydration, dropping of the eyeball, sharp pains in the abdominal cavity, cramps, paresis. The lack of necessary treatment leads to death after 3-4 days. Surviving individuals may relapse after 8-9 days;
- supersharp stage the disease is accompanied by a sharp rise in temperature, increased heart rate, refusal to eat, incoordination, and coma. Death occurs in 1-2 days.
Pathological changes
Veterinarians-pathologists note that almost all of the dead piglets in the stomach have curdled milk, liquid intestinal contents, acute catarrhal and hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. 
In the intestinal mucosa, there are bleeding inflammations and acute catarrh. Veterinarians note that among the effects of coliarrhea, there are also deformities of the liver, kidneys and spleen, swelling of the brain. Spleen becomes dark gray.
Important! These facts differentiate escherichiosis from viral gastroenteritis, salmonellosis, dysentery, enterotoxemia.
Diagnostics
It is possible to diagnose colibacteriosis in agricultural complexes and premises not only taking into account the symptoms of the disease, but also on the basis of pathological data, the results of epidemiological, clinical and bacteriological studies. 
This requires a referral to veterinary studies of fresh corpses of piglets or their organs (gall bladder, liver, kidneys, heart, spleen, tubular bone, head or brain, mesenteral nodes, stomach, parts of the small intestine). Particles of organs are sent for research in tightly closed, waterproof containers. It is necessary to send the materials to laboratory tests no later than four hours after the death. 
If your pigs managed to avoid a lethal outcome, then in order to diagnose the disease, it is necessary to send feces from three to four infected individuals for analysis.
Important! You can send for analysis to the veterinary laboratory materials only from piglets that have not been treated with antibiotics.Let us consider in more detail what to do in case of diarrhea in piglets and what effective methods and measures will help to overcome it.
Treatment
Having diagnosed the symptoms of pig colibacillosis, it is necessary to start treatment immediately. Most effective is a therapeutic process using antibioticsin particular, chloramphenicol, monomitsin and neomycin. Doses of the drug for young animals should exceed the dose for adults: for young animals - 30 mg, for adults - 20 mg orally. In order to prevent dehydration of the body, electrolytes are injected into the piglet, in particular, Ringer's solution. The effective effect of Duphalac (10 mg per one mumps) was also noted. 
Reception of antibiotics is necessary to appoint in combination with vitamins of group B.
Veterinarians are advised to use probiotics ("Bio Plus 2B", "Lacto-Sac"), immunomodulators (for example, "Lidium" in the ratio of 2 mg / kg mass) in the treatment of colibacillosis. 
There are also folk remedies for treatment of colibacillosis: decoctions of yarrow, horse sorrel, St. John's wort, and oak bark. But they are effective in the treatment of individuals aged 10-15 days.
Learn more about breeding goats, horses, cows, gobies.
Prevention
Prevention colidiaera is to increase the resistance of the body of a pregnant sow and her future offspring. For this purpose, 10-15 days before farrowing, the sow is determined to be in a separate clean room, in which all necessary disinfection measures with the use of soda, chloramine, furatsilin were observed before. The sow itself is thoroughly washed out, and its limbs are disinfected with a 0.5% Lysol solution or a 5% formalin solution. 
Farrow sows should occur in a sterile clean room. A worker who will accept piglets must strictly adhere to sanitary and hygienic standards.
Important! The diet of newborn piglets should consist exclusively of products subjected to heat treatment.Against swine colibacillosis, it is advisable to use serum. Effective vaccines are Porcilis Coli, Colivac S, Neocokipor. The vaccine is administered to both sows before farrowing and newborn piglets. Non-specific immunoglobulins are also widely used, in particular, acidophilus and others.
As you can see, the most common diarrhea in pigs can be fraught with many problems. It is a symptom of many diseases, among which the highest level of risk is characterized by colibacteriosis. But timely diagnosis of the disease and properly organized treatment will help you save the offspring of pigs and avoid losses.
