For optimal productivity plus control of ileitis, BMD® and Aureomycin® represent powerful production tools that work together for exceptional disease control and performance benefits that can increase profits. When fed together, these two popular agents form an unsurpassed synergy, providing health and productivity benefits much greater than either alone.

BMD and Aureomycin have demonstrated high potency and in vitro synergy against L. intracellularis. The pathogen showed a 2-fold improvement in susceptibility to the BMD+Aureomycin combination compared to Aureomycin alone. Furthermore, BMD+Aureomycin is the ONLY ileitis program that can also provide respiratory disease control.

BMD+Aureomycin has demonstrated superiority to other ileitis control programs. In pigs challenged with L. intracellularis, BMD+Aureomycin significantly (P < 0.05) improved average daily gain compared to tylosin or lincomycin, and cost much less.

Ileitis (proliferative enteropathy) is a condition that causes thickening of the mucosa of the small intestine of pigs. The disease is triggered by Lawsonia intracellularis, an intracellular bacterium that infects and grows within epithelial cells lining the gut. Ileitis is characterized by a smooth, rigid lower section of the small intestine (ileum), so it is sometimes referred to as a “hose pipe gut.”

Clinical signs in affected young pigs can include diarrhea and reduced weight gains as a result of the distinctive lesions in the lower gut. In grower/finisher pigs, more obvious clinical signs may include a rapid onset of bleeding from the affected intestines, leading to bloody scours and sudden death. However, subclinical infections are very common and may subtly impede performance (weight gain, feed conversion), without obvious diarrhea or weight loss.

Because outward clinical signs of ileitis may not be very noticeable, special laboratory techniques have been developed to detect L. intracellularis in feces. Therefore, regular fecal analysis is needed to monitor for the possibility of L. intracellularis infections. Also, careful feed and weight records should be obtained for comparison during potential outbreaks.

Since feces are the primary means for spreading L. intracellularis from infected pigs, good health and sanitation practices are critical preventative measures. Ileitis can occur at any time in seemingly clean and healthy herds, so appropriate preventative measures should be maintained at all times. During an outbreak, treatments must be administered to the entire herd since L. intracellularis is easily transmitted through the feces of infected pigs. Aureomycin® and ChlorMax® are excellent antibiotics for ileitis control, fed at the rate of 10 mg per lb body weight per day. Aureomycin and ChlorMax are also approved for control of ileitis when fed in combination with BMD at 30 g/t.  Gebhart (U of MN) showed that when Lawsonia organisms were exposed to both antibiotics at the same time, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) dropped two-fold!