Murdoch researchers tackle diarrhoea in piglets

Coccidiosis, a major cause of diarrhoea in pigs before weaning (sucker pigs), is the focus of a new research project currently being undertaken by a team of specialists from Murdoch’s Division of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences.

Dr Ross Buddle

    Veterinary pig specialist Dr Ross Buddle said the research would enable better diagnosis, treatment and control of coccidiosis through an improved understanding of the disease.
    “The project is being jointly-funded to the tune of $50,000 over three years by the WA Pig Industry Compensation Fund and the national Pig Research and Development Corporation (PRDC),” said Dr Buddle.
    He said the team’s research would focus on sucker piglets of up to four weeks of age.
    “Anything that reduces growth rate at this period of time is quite serious as it is when pigs make most efficient use of their food.”
    Dr Buddle said coccidiosis had been recognised for decades as one of the major diseases limiting production in the poultry industry.
    “However, in pigs, it had always been overshadowed by the E. coli bacterium, which causes a very severe diarrhoea in baby pigs. Now that we have better control over E. coli , we recognise that coccidiosis is a very common cause of diarrhoea in suckers after the first week of life.”
    Dr Buddle said one of the project’s core features was the development of sensitive new, DNA-based, diagnostic tests by the Murdoch Parasitology Group.
    The project is being carried out by a multi-disciplinary team comprising clinician Dr Ross Buddle; epidemiologist Associate Professor Ian Robertson; parasitologists Professor Andrew Thompson and Russ Hobbs; molecular parasitologist Dr Una Morgan, and pharmacologist Associate Professor Jim Reynoldson.

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