Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Apr 23;15(9):1200.
doi: 10.3390/ani15091200.

Efficacy of a New Commercial Vaccine Against Clostridioides difficile and Clostridium perfringens Type A for Recurrent Swine Neonatal Diarrhea Under Field Conditions

Ainhoa Puig Ambrós  1 , Gabriel Peixoto Faria  1 , Massimiliano Baratelli  1 , Roberto Maurício Carvalho Guedes  2 , Rodrigo Otávio Silveira Silva  2 , Oriol Boix-Mas  1 , Xavier Gibert  1
Affiliations

Efficacy of a New Commercial Vaccine Against Clostridioides difficile and Clostridium perfringens Type A for Recurrent Swine Neonatal Diarrhea Under Field Conditions

Ainhoa Puig Ambrós et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Neonatal diarrhea causes significant economic losses in swine production by reducing average daily weight gain (ADWG) and increasing piglet mortality, with Clostridioides difficile (CD) and Clostridium perfringens type A (CPA) being the most common causes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a new commercial vaccine against these agents to minimize diarrhea, pre-weaning mortality, and its negative consequences on weight performance in suckling piglets under field conditions. The study consisted of two randomized, double-blind, negative-controlled field trials (Study A and B) focusing on clinically healthy pregnant sows from commercial pig farms experiencing recurrent neonatal diarrhea. In the meta-analysis of both farms, the control group showed lower performance compared to the vaccine group (least squares means differences) for ADWG (-14.5 g/day, p < 0.001), body weight (-0.33 kg, p < 0.001), and underweight piglets at weaning (6.94%, p = 0.011). The number of piglets with diarrhea (9.76%, p < 0.001) and the percentage of piglets treated with antibiotics for diarrhea (6.09%, p = 0.016) were lower in vaccinated animals compared to controls. No significant differences in pre-weaning mortality were observed. The results of this study suggest that the new commercial vaccine against CD and CPA reduces the incidence of neonatal diarrhea and the associated use of antibiotics, while positively impacts the growth performance of suckling piglets.

Keywords: Clostridioides difficile; Clostridium perfringens type A; antimicrobial drug use; clinical trial; neonatal diarrhea; swine; vaccine efficacy; weight performance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors A.P.A., G.P.F., M.B., O.B.-M. and X.G. are employees of HIPRA and HIPRA Scientific. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study population and allocation into treatment groups in studies A (a) and B (b). a Dying at the last third of gestation or not giving birth to any living piglet. b Missing data on monitoring of their piglets’ diarrhea. c Aborted (n = 2), did not farrow any living piglets (n = 1), or farrowed prematurely (n = 1).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Johansen M., Alban L., Kjærsgård H.D., Bækbo P. Factors associated with suckling piglet average daily gain. Prev. Vet. Med. 2004;63:91–102. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2004.01.011. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lingaas F. Epidemiological and genetical studies in Norwegian pig herds. IV. Breed effects, recurrence of disease, and relationship between disease and some performance traits. Acta Vet. Scand. 1991;32:107–114. doi: 10.1186/BF03547002. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Thomson J.R., Friendship R.M. Digestive System. In: Zimmerman J.J., Karriker L.A., Ramirez A., Schwartz K.J., Stevenson G.W., editors. Diseases of Swine. Wiley-Blackwell; Chichester, UK: 2012. pp. 216–218. - DOI
    1. Uzal F.A., Navarro M.A., Asin J., Boix O., Ballarà-Rodriguez I., Gibert X. Clostridial diarrheas in piglets: A review. Vet. Microbiol. 2023;280:109691. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2023.109691. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Songer J.G. The emergence of Clostridium difficile as a pathogen of food animals. Anim. Health Res. Rev. 2004;5:321–326. doi: 10.1079/AHR200492. - DOI - PubMed

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources