What large scale economic analyses are saying about Enterisol™ Ileitis

When a study reveals the benefits associated with the use of a given vaccine, it is encouraging. If two studies come to the same conclusion, it catches attention. But if a multitude of studies are going in the same direction and stating that there is truly a benefit in using the product, it has to be taken in consideration. This Technical Bulletin will briefly summarize two large scale economic analyses that have been published on the Lawsonia intracellularis vaccine, Enterisol™ Ileitis.

Adam et al, 2008¹

One of the largest surveys ever done for evaluating vaccine efficacy was initiated in 13 European countries and involved 719,000 pigs. Data from 130 herds allowed comparing 332,000 pigs vaccinated with Enterisol™ Ileitis to 387,000 non-vaccinated pigs. Table 1 shows the results that were obtained.

Table 1: Performance improvements of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated pigs and number of farms involved.

* P <0.05

At the time, the gross margin benefit of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated pigs was evaluated at 4.01 €/pig.

Jansen et al, 2022²

In total, 50 studies reporting the effect of oral vaccination with Enterisol™ Ileitis were evaluated, including peered reviewed publications and conference proceedings. Only studies that evaluated the effect of vaccination under field conditions and that evaluated zootechnical performance in either the nursery or finisher period were considered. A total of 37 studies were included for average daily gain (ADG) evaluation. ADG was significantly increased for vaccinated pigs in nursery (0.0977 lb) and grow finisher pigs (0.0818 lb). Feed conversion ratio was reported in 17 studies and it was significantly lower in vaccinated pigs with a difference of 0.079. Mortality was reported in 16 studies and was significantly reduced by 0.78% with vaccination. When considering market prices of June 2022, the total economic benefit of vaccination was evaluated at US $8.30 per vaccinated pig, minus the vaccine cost.

The positive results obtained with Enterisol™ Ileitis, based on these analyses, are backed up by a recent evaluation where pigs were experimentally infected with Lawsonia intracellularis.³ This evaluation, conducted with the collaboration of researchers from two different US universities, compared the performance of vaccinated and unvaccinated pigs after challenge. Pigs were vaccinated, or not, by oral drench at 1 week postweaning, and inoculated with Lawsonia intracellularis 6 weeks later (Day 0). Table 2 shows the results that were obtained.

Table 2: Performance of vaccinated and unvaccinated pigs from day 0 to 19 post inoculation.

* P <0.05

Take home messages

• Using Enterisol™ Ileitis is highly beneficial according to large scale economic analyses
• Its clear value in field situations is corroborated by a recent experimental challenge study

References

1. Adam M, Hardge T, Voets H. European wide investigation on the economic impact of ileitis vaccination. AD Leman Swine Conference 2008;36.  
2. Jansen R, Leite F, Alonso C, Gomez-Duran O. A meta-analysis of ileitis oral vaccination field studies highlights and their economic impact under current market circumstances. AD Leman Swine Conference 2022;poster 61.  
3. Helm ET, Leite FL, Burrough ER, Gabler NK. Lawsonia intracellularis infected enterocytes lack sucrase isomaltase which contributes to reduced pig digestive capacity. Vet Res 2021;52(1):90.

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