HEALTH FEATURE The hidden costs of ileitis

摘要

Ileitis (proliferative enteropathy (PE) is caused by a bacterium Lawsonia intracellularis and targets the intestine of pigs. A proportion of affected pigs will have clinical signs of disease, including diarrhoea, weight loss and may die as a result. The economic impact of clinical disease, including reduced weight gains, increased feed to gain ratios, increased days to slaughter, increased medication costs and increased P2 backfat, have been estimated in the past.