Edema disease

Edema disease is a common cause of illness and death in pigs during the fir st 2 weeks after weaning. The disease is an enterotoxemia caused by strains of Escherichia coli. Bacterial colonization is mediated by F18ab fimbriae on small intestinal epithelial cells and is inherited as a dominant trait. Clinical signs and lesions are largely the result of an exotoxin belonging to the Shigatoxin (Stx) family, Stx2e, which causes necrosis in the brain s tem and other organs. Vaccines targeting F18ab and Stx2e protect against di sease.