Cessation of Clinical Disease and Spirochete Shedding after Tiamulin Treatment in Pigs Experimentally Infected with Brachyspira hampsonii

October 7, 2015 — 

With the emergence of Brachyspira hampsonii associated with swine dysentery in North America, identification of effective treatments and interventions is a pressing need. Denagard® (tiamulin hydrogen fumarate) Liquid Concentrate 12.5% is approved in the United States for treatment of dysentery caused by Brachyspira hyodysenteriae at 0.006% in the water. In this study, the effectiveness of tiamulin in resolving clinical disease, eliminating viable spirochete shedding, and reducing neutrophilic colitis following infection with either B. hampsonii or B. hyodysenteriae was evaluated. Seventy-eight 7-week-old crossbred pigs were divided into three groups [sham-inoculated (n = 18), B. hampsonii-inoculated (n = 30), and B. hyodysenteriae-inoculated (n = 30)]. Each inoculum group was divided into three subgroups which received either 0.006% tiamulin, 0.018% tiamulin, or no medication. Both levels of tiamulin resolved clinical disease within 24 h of treatment initiation, eliminated spirochete shedding within 72 h of treatment initiation, and resolved and/or prevented histologic lesions in pigs infected with either Brachyspira spp.

Wilberts BL, Arruda PH, Warneke HL, Erlandson KR, Hammer JM, Burrough ER; Cessation of Clinical Disease and Spirochete Shedding after Tiamulin Treatment in Pigs Experimentally Infected with Brachyspira hampsonii; Res Vet Sci. 2014 Oct;97(2):341-7. doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2014.08.004. Epub 2014 Aug 27. PMID: 25218812