Medicinal plants – prophylactic and therapeutic options for gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases in calves and piglets? A systematic review

Ayrle, Hannah; Mevissen, Meike; Kaske, Martin; Nathues, Heiko; Gruetzner, Niels; Melzig, Matthias; Walkenhorst, Michael

In calves and piglets, a variety of pathogens can cause gastrointestinal diseases. Neonatal calf diarrhea represents the most frequent cause of calf losses [2, [7] [8] [9] with a mortality of around 55 % in the U.S.A. and in Korea [10] and a morbidity ranging from 12 % in the U.S.A., 23 % in Canada up to 53 % in The Netherlands [1, 7, 11] . Insufficient colostral supply and failure of feeding or improper diet are triggers for diarrhea in calves [12] [13] [14] . In suckling and postweaning piglets an infection with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strains has been reported to lead to high economic losses as a result of a constant high morbidity and mortality [15] . Verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli infections can lead to more seldom but severe edema disease in weaned pigs [16] [17] [18] . The prevalence of postweaning diarrhea has been reported to be 35 % in France [19] , the morbidity was stated to exceed 50 % in Finland [20] and the mortality can be as high as 25 % without therapy [17] . The incidence of neonatal diarrhea in piglets depends on concentration of antibodies in sow's colostrum. While piglets are protected by the antibodies in sow's milk, the predisposition for postweaning diarrhea increases with weaning. Additional factors to the immunological gap, including abrupt changes in diet, an increase in stomach pH, and changes in the enzymatic and cellular configuration of the intestine lead to dysbiosis [6, 17, 21] .