Management of post-weaning diarrhoea and the implications for AMR in response to the upcoming ban on zinc supplementation in pigs.

仔猪与母猪分离断奶是猪一生中的关键和紧张时期。在这个阶段，仔猪特别容易受到肠道问题的影响，并有可能发展为断奶后腹泻。这种疾病主要是由细菌和病毒引起的，这些细菌和病毒会挑战仔猪不成熟的肠道，并且对农民来说是一个福利和经济问题，因为仔猪会体重减轻，不适，有时甚至死亡。目前，氧化锌作为膳食补充剂添加到猪饲料中，以减少断奶后腹泻并促进生长。然而，虽然氧化锌改善了仔猪肠道健康，但由于猪粪和废物对土地的潜在锌污染，存在环境问题。高锌水平也被认为会促进细菌逃避抗生素的能力，导致抗生素耐药性。因此，从2022年6月起，英国和欧洲将禁止在猪饲料中添加高含量的氧化锌。在养猪业中，人们严重担心这一禁令将对断奶仔猪的健康和福利产生破坏性影响。农民和兽医预计断奶后腹泻将变得更难控制，需要更多的医疗。因此，用于治疗仔猪肠道感染的抗生素使用可能会增加，从而加剧养猪业中已经很高的使用率。这对限制牲畜和食物链中的抗菌素耐药性水平具有影响。在向“零锌”过渡期间，我们直接与农民合作，在本研究中，我们旨在调查禁令对仔猪健康和生长的影响。我们的目标是确定切实可行的措施，使农场的差异，以减少疾病，同时提高动物福利和生产力。我们将研究一系列农场管理、饲养和生物措施，以了解哪些因素会影响仔猪断奶后腹泻。我们将通过在2022年6月禁令实施前后从农场收集猪粪便样本，并确定仔猪粪便中发现的微生物类型和数量的任何变化来做到这一点。我们将研究“友好”肠道细菌的组成，以及致病细菌，并检查对抗生素的耐药性水平。与此同时，我们将分析来自参与农场的数据，以衡量仔猪健康状况，并跟踪农民为减轻氧化锌禁令的影响而可能采取的任何管理措施。这一点，再加上对英国各地养猪场主的一项基于电子邮件的调查，将提供一幅关于氧化锌禁令对仔猪断奶的看法和现实的图景。至关重要的是，通过直接与农民合作，我们希望找到可接受的解决方案，减少仔猪疾病，同时提供信息，帮助抵消“零锌”之旅带来的不确定性。

Piglet weaning through separation from the sow is a critical and stressful period in the life of a pig. At this stage piglets are particularly vulnerable to gut problems and have a tendency to develop a condition called post-weaning diarrhoea. This disease is primarily caused by bacteria and viruses which challenge the piglet's immature gut, and is a welfare and economic concern to farmers, because piglets suffer weight loss, discomfort and sometimes death. Zinc oxide is currently added to pig feed as a dietary supplement to reduce post-weaning diarrhoea and boost growth. However, whilst Zinc oxide improves piglet gut health, there are environmental concerns due to the potential contamination of land with zinc through pig manure and waste. High zinc levels are also thought to promote the ability of bacteria to evade antibiotics, resulting in antimicrobial resistance. For these reasons, from June 2022 the supplementation of pig feed with high levels of Zinc oxide will be banned in the UK and Europe. Within the pig farming sector there are serious concerns that this ban will have a damaging impact on the health and welfare of piglets during weaning. Farmers and veterinarians anticipate post-weaning diarrhoea will become harder to manage and will require more medical treatment. As a consequence, antibiotic use to treat piglet gut infections may increase, exacerbating already high usage within the pig industry. This has implications for limiting levels of antimicrobial resistance in livestock and the food-chain.Working directly with farmers during the transitional period to "zero zinc", in this study we aim to investigate the impact of the ban on piglet health and growth. Our goal is to identify practical measures that will make an on-farm difference to reducing disease, whilst improving animal welfare and productivity. We will examine a range of farm management, husbandry and biological measures, to see which factors influence post-weaning diarrhoea in piglets. We will do this by collecting pig faecal samples from farms both before and after the introduction of the June 2022 ban, and identifying any changes in the type and numbers of microbes found in piglet faeces. We will look at the composition of the "friendly" gut bacteria, as well as disease-causing bugs, and examine levels of resistance to antibiotics. At the same time we will analyse data from participating farms to measure piglet health status, and track any management changes farmers may have introduced to lessen the impact of the Zinc oxide ban. This, together with a questionnaire-based survey of pig farmers across the UK, will provide a picture of both the perceptions and reality of the Zinc oxide ban on piglet weaning. Crucially, by working directly with farmers, we hope to find acceptable solutions that may reduce disease in piglets, whilst providing information to help offset the uncertainty accompanying the journey to "zero zinc".