Nutritional management of the gastrointestinal tractto reduce enteric diseases in pigs

This paper discusses the general hypothesis that certain enteric diseases in pigs can be controlled, or at least ameliorated, by nutritional management of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The impetus for such an approach is the mounting concerns amongst retailers, the public, feed manufacturers, producers and regulatory bodies regarding the ‘safety’ of the production chain supplying pig meat. The prime concern is the use of antibiotics, recent events in Europe sending a clear signal that alternatives to the use of viable and cost– effective growth–promoting antibiotics will be required sooner rather than later. Results of research summarized in this paper suggest that associations, currently largely undefined, exist between bacterial pathogens, the host, and dietary substrates to cause diseases in the GI tract. Available data implicate the non–starch polysaccharide (NSP) and amylase–resistant starch in the clinical expression of a number of economically important bacterial diseases. The use of highly–digestible cereal sources such as cooked white rice limits the severity of enteric diseases such as post–weaning diarrhoea, swine dysentery and porcine intestinal spirochaetosis. Interactions with other dietary components in the aetiology of enteric diseases also are possible, including the level and type of protein fed to pigs.