Mucosal competitive exclusion to reduce Salmonella in swine

A mucosal competitive exclusion culture has been shown to reduce or elimina te Salmonella spp. in poultry. Using similar techniques, a mucosal competit ive exclusion culture from swine (MCES) was produced from the cecum of a 6- week-old pig. Suckling pigs were inoculated with 5 mi of MCES by oral gavag e within 6 h postfarrowing (PF) and again at 24 h PE All pigs were challeng ed with 10(3) CFU of Salmonella Choleraesuis at 48 h PF by intranasal insti llation, including pigs from two sows that had not been given MCES. Clinica l signs and rectal swabs were monitored daily, and pigs were allowed to suc kle throughout the experiment. All pigs underwent necropsy on day 7 PF, and presence of Salmonella was determined in both qualitative (10 tissues) and quantitative (two tissues) samples. Clinical signs were inapparent in all pigs throughout the experiment. Recovery of Salmonella from rectal swabs wa s variable. However, 28% of the gut tissues were positive from the MCES-tre ated pigs versus 79% from the control pigs. A 2- to 5-log(10) reduction of Salmonella in the cecal contents or ileocolic junction was observed in the MCES-treated pigs when compared with the controls. These data indicate that use of MCES may be a useful approach for control of Salmonella.