Source: Yijie He, Cynthia Jinno, Chong Li, Sara L Johnston, Hongyu Xue, Yanhong Liu, Peng Ji. Effects of a blend of essential oils, medium-chain fatty acids, and a toxin-adsorbing mineral on diarrhea and gut microbiome of weanling pigs experimentally infected with a pathogenic Escherichia coli. Journal of Animal Science. 100 (1), January 2022: skab365, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skab365.
Poor production efficiency and reduced resistance to bacterial disease are common issues for pigs during the weaning period. Traditionally, prophylactic antibiotics were used to help pigs through this stressful time; however, increasing regulations and consumer demands have reduced or eliminated the use of antibiotics in some swine production facilities. Therefore, natural alternatives are needed to help support pigs’ health and performance through this transition period.
In a paper published in the Journal of Animal Science, the authors (from UC-Davis and Amlan International) investigated the use of the Amlan product NeutraPath® as a natural support during weaning without antibiotics. NeutraPath is a formulated blend of functional feed additives and a toxin-binding mineral that has previously shown potent bactericidal and bacteriostatic effects in vitro, and efficacy against bacterial infections in broiler chickens. He et al., examined the effects of NeutraPath on growth, diarrhea incidence and the gut microbiome of enterotoxigenic E. coli-challenged weaned pigs.
The study found that NeutraPath reduced the frequency of diarrhea in ETEC-challenged pigs, indicating a greater resistance to disease. Additionally, changes in the fecal microbiome and ileal mucosa microbiota composition suggested NeutraPath may help maintain desirable balance in the intestinal microbial ecosystem. NeutraPath-fed pigs also had better performance during the recovery period. Collectively, the results demonstrated that NeutraPath has potential to play a key role in supporting pig health and performance during the weaning period as antibiotic use is decreased.
Read the paper here: https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skab365.
