Occurrence of Isospora suis in larger piglet production units and on specialized piglet rearing farms

Mixed fecal samples of 264 litters from five piglet production farms (155-238 sows/farm) were investigated three times during the suckling period for the occurrence of Isospora suis over the period of 1 year. On all five farms Isopora suis was found to be a common endoparasite with infection rates being highest in litters of 3-4 weeks of age, By the end of the third investigation period the cumulative infection rate was 53.8% of the litters ranging from 20.0% to 81.5% for the single farms. During the suckling period the infection rate increased from 18.6% to 32.6% and then to 37.7%, Diarrhea was present in 66.3% of the sampled litters with the highest rates at the end of the suckling period. 63.4% of the litters which showed diarrhea and 34.8% of those without diarrhea excreted I. suis within the study period. Diarrhea was recorded for 78.2% of the I. suispositive litters and for 52.5% of the Isospora-negative litters. In summer and fall the occurrence of I, suis was higher (66.3% and 61.0%, respectively) than in spring and winter (47.7% and 37.9%, respectively). In litters with diarrhea and pathogenic E. coli I. suis often occurred simultaneously. Above-average hygiene measures and mainly perforated pen floors seemed to lower the risk of isosporosis. With the exception of Strongyloides ransomi other parasites were not found in the fecal samples of suckling piglets. Two specialized piglet rearing farms, a conventional large-scale rearing unit and a farm managed according to the segregated early weaning (SEW) system were examined three times during the 6-7 week rearing period. In both units I. suis was common, but was not correlated with diarrhea. In the SEW unit the infection rates decreased from 37.5% to 20.2% and to 4.1%, while the infection rate in the conventional unit slightly increased from the first (17.2%) to the second (21.9%) investigation and stayed at this level at the third sampling. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.