Managemental influences on the selective proliferation of two strains of haemolytic Escherichia coli in weaned pigs

In an experimental study on a piggery it was found that haemolytic Escherichia coli of O-serotypes 138 or 139 proliferated in the intestinal tracts of pigs following weaning, with E. coli of the O-138 type also being occasionally recovered from unweaned pigs, and once from a sow. Organisms of the O-138 type produced heat labile enterotoxin and their presence in weaned pigs was associated with the development of severe post-weaning diarrhoea. E. coli of O-139 type produced a vero cell cytotoxin and were associated with a milder diarrhoea in weaned pigs. Under various managemental circumstances the O-138 type E. coli almost invariably proliferated after weaning. The O-139 strain of E. coli did however proliferate rather than the O-138 strain following the movement of weaned pigs to new accommodation, after weaned pigs were returned to their sow and then weaning again 5 days later, and very occasionally in pigs weaned at 5 weeks of age. In all these cases earlier proliferation of the O-138 E. coli had been detected, suggesting that this may be a prerequisite for proliferation of the O-139 strain.