Effect of age, dose and antibiotic therapy on the development of Clostridium difficile infection in neonatal piglets

Piglet diarrhea is associated with increased pre-weaning mortality, poor growth rates, and variation in weight at weaning. Clostridium difficile is a known cause of enteric disease in neonatal piglets, yet risk factors associated with C. difficile infection in piglets are unknown. The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate the consistency and severity of lesions in piglets challenged with C. difficile at different bacterial doses (DOSAGE experiment), (2) evaluate the use of antibiotics as a contributing risk factor in 1-day-old piglets (ANTIMICROBIAL experiment), and (3) to provide a clinical and histological evaluation of C. difficile infection in 10-day-old piglets (AGE experiment). One hundred and eleven conventional neonatal pigs were snatch farrowed and divided into experimental groups addressing the objectives. In the DOSAGE experiment, 40 1-day-old piglets were sham inoculated or challenged with varying amounts of C. difficile heat shocked spores and euthanized 72 h post infection. Results indicate a clear trend for disease development as bacterial numbers increase. In the ANTIMICROBIAL experiment, 39 1-day-old piglets were challenged and then treated with one of four different antibiotics after 16 h. No significant difference in disease development was found. Thirty-three 10-day-old piglets were given varying doses of C. difficile in the AGE experiment. Disease and lesions were reproduced in 10-day-old piglets. Combined results indicate that C. difficile dosage appears to be an important factor that influences the appearance and severity of lesions, 10-day-old pigs can develop disease associated with C. difficile, and antibiotic administration following inoculation may not be a major contributor for disease in neonatal piglets.