Immunoprophylactic effect of chicken egg yolk immunoglobulin (Ig Y) against porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) in piglets

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is the causative agent of neonatal d iarrhea in piglets, which causes high mortality rates. In this study, the i mmunoprophylactic effects of chicken egg yolk immunoglobulin (Ig Y) against PEDV were investigated in neonatal pigs. Ig Y was found to reduce the mort ality in piglets after challenge exposures. The field application of Ig Y a lso revealed significant differences in survival rates of piglets given Ig Y, as compared with placebo or control. The results in this study indicated that Tg Y against PEDV could be an alternative way of supplementing prophy lactic measures like colostral antibodies from sows.