Table 2 Chronological history of the Salmonella situation at the farm. Presented are the date, the subject and the source of the information in the period from 2002 to 2016
November 2002 | The earliest mention of diarrhoea, describing considerable amounts of grey, yellow and sometimes black diarrhoea | Visit report of the veterinarian |
September 2004 | Confirmation of anti-Lawsonia intracellularis serum IgG in pigs over 50 kg of body weight and advises medication with Tylosin | Visit report of the veterinarian |
April 2005 | Confirmation of Salmonella in faecal samples of gilts of 40–60 kg of body weight and advised treatment with Enrofloxacin (Baytril®) and colistin sulphate. The appearance of runts in pigs over 30 kg of body weight is mentioned as a problem. | Visit report of the veterinarian |
October 2009 | High S/P-ratio values in the Salmonella ELISA, especially in heavy finishers > 80 kg BW (4 out of 7 pigs sampled had S/P-ratio values > 2, all 7 pigs were positive at cut-off 0.6) | Laboratory DGZ Vlaanderen vzw |
Later reports mention different S/P-ratio values, sometimes high, sometimes low, in pigs of 40 kg body weight and upwards | Laboratory DGZ Vlaanderen vzw | |
2012–2015 | All most all reports mention Salmonella as a problem | Visit reports of the veterinarian |
October 2012 | The Salmonella expert from the Animal Health Service Flanders visited the herd to provide advice. Different acids (based on formic acid or coated butyrate) were tried through feed and/or drinking water, however concentrations nor duration of treatment nor pig category were specified or recorded. | DGZ Vlaanderen vzw |
October 2012 | A faecal sample from sows and gilts / finishers tested positive for Salmonella Typhimurium O5+ which was sensitive to all tested antimicrobials including colistin. | DGZ Vlaanderen vzw, typing by CODA-CERVA |
March 2013 | Two heavy finishers (104 and 106 kg body weight respectively) were submitted for post-mortem examination and enteritis caused by Salmonella Typhimurium O5+ was confirmed | DGZ Vlaanderen vzw, typing by CODA-CERVA |
October 2013 | Seven pigs died of which 4 were presumed to have died of salmonellosis. Colistin sulphate is used regularly to treat for diarrhoea. | Visit report of the veterinarian |
April 2014 | The report mentions the options of vaccinating for Salmonella and the use of butyric acid in the feed. | Visit report of the veterinarian |
2014–2016 | As soon as diarrhoea appeared, antimicrobials containing colistin sulphate (Colistine-mix 1.2 milj. I.U./g, 1 kg during 2015, dose 5 mg/kg BW via drinking water for 5–7 days and Promycine Pulvis 4800 IE/mg, 1 kg, dose 100,000 I.U. per kg BW for 3–5 days via the drinking water after 2015) were used to treat the pigs. | AMCRA Belgium |
May 2016 | Salmonellosis was confirmed after typing of 4 isolates from diarrhoea samples as Salmonella Typhimurium O5+ which were sensitive to all tested antimicrobials including colistin. | DGZ Vlaanderen vzw, typing by CODA-CERVA |
October 2016 | Necropsy of 3 non-vaccinated finishing pigs (80, 80 and 84 kg body weight), showing moderate congestion of the mesenteric lymph nodes, dilated jejunum with yellow-brown fluid content including some Ascaris suum worms, very fluid yellow-brown content of the large intestine, confirmed they died of salmonellosis caused by S. Typhimurium O5+ which was sensitive to all tested antimicrobials including colistin. | DGZ Vlaanderen vzw, typing by CODA-CERVA |