PigletStart Diarrhea in newborn piglets

It is one of the most common diseases in young piglets: diarrhoea. Diarrhea is the result of a digestive disorder. It can have several causes, including incorrect nutrition (moderate quality, incorrect temperature), overfeeding or abrupt feed changes. But often diarrhea is caused by a virus, bacteria or parasite. Examples include E-coli, Rota and Coronavirus, Cryptosporidia, Coccidiosis and Salmonella (see table 1).

Table 1: Overview of a number of pathogens that cause diarrhea in piglets (Veterinarian, 2020).

Type	Period	Type manure
E. Coli (geboortediarree)	From day 1 to day 5 after birth	Watery diarrhea (sometimes yellowish). High mortality
Clostridium Perfringens type C	From a few days after birth	Severe diarrhea, sometimes with blood. High mortality
Clostridium Perfringens type A	From a few days after birth	Watery or pasty diarrhea, without blood
Virus (Corona)	Can occur both before and after weaning	Watery diarrhea (greenish-yellowish). Very high mortality
Virus (Rota)	Can occur both before and after weaning	Watery diarrhea
Coccidiosis	From day 10-14	Water-thin diarrhea (grey-green-whitish), can smell like soured milk

In all cases, the piglet loses a lot of fluid, electrolytes and energy. All this results in the piglet drying out, losing weight and growing retarded. In case of severe diarrhoea, the piglet can die. It is therefore extremely important to act quickly and appropriately for diarrhea in piglets.