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

仔猪断奶与母猪分离是猪一生中一个关键和紧张的时期。在这个阶段，仔猪特别容易受到肠道问题的影响，并有发展一种称为断奶后腹泻的趋势。这种疾病主要是由细菌和病毒引起的，这些细菌和病毒挑战仔猪未成熟的肠道，对农民来说是一个福利和经济问题，因为仔猪体重减轻、不适，有时甚至死亡。氧化锌目前被添加到猪饲料中作为膳食补充剂，以减少断奶后腹泻和促进生长。然而，虽然氧化锌可以改善仔猪的肠道健康，但由于猪粪和废物可能污染土地，因此存在环境问题。人们还认为，高锌含量会促进细菌对抗生素的抵抗能力，从而产生抗微生物药物耐药性。由于这些原因，从2022年6月起，英国和欧洲将禁止添加高氧化锌的猪饲料。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可能会增加，从而加剧养猪业中已经很高的使用量。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，在这项研究中，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，在减少农场疾病的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，以了解哪些因素影响仔猪断奶后腹泻。为了做到这一点，我们将在2022年6月禁令实施前后从农场收集猪粪便样本，并确定仔猪粪便中微生物类型和数量的变化。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，以衡量仔猪的健康状况，并跟踪农民可能引入的任何管理变化，以减轻氧化锌禁令的影响。这项研究，再加上对全英国养猪户的问卷调查，将提供一幅关于氧化锌禁令对仔猪断奶的认知和现实的图片。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，减少仔猪的疾病，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".