John Smith is a pig farmer. For the past 5 years, Smith has been adding vitamins

Question

John Smith is a pig farmer. For the past 5 years, Smith has been adding vitamins and low doses of antibiotics to his pig food; he says that these supplements enhance the growth of the pigs. Within the past year, however, several of his pigs died from infections of common bacteria., which failed to respond to large doses of antibiotics.

a) Can you offer an explanation for the increased rate of mortality due to infection in the pigs?

b) What advice might you offer Smith to prevent this problem in the future?

Explanation / Answer

Please find the explanations below:

Part a) The information deciphers that John has been providing low doses of antibiotics to his pig for last 5 years. This is a huge time period for sustained delivery of small doses of antibiotics. Initially this dose had provided beneficial effects on the health and growth of pigs but gradually, the microflora of pig intestine became resistant to these antibiotics. This made the future generations of the pig by 4-5 years resistant to multiple antibiotics. Thus, the pigs became gradually immuno-compromised and developed resistance against numerous antibiotics. When an infection evaded the group of these pigs, they could not be treated with any of these antibiotics because the pigs were already resistant to them. Thus, this lead to sudden mass mortality of pigs in John's farm. This is why long term antibiotic treatments, even at exceedinly low doses, is never advised.

Part b) As a clinician's advise, John is suggested to replace his pigs with a new breeding stock with normal immune response. He is also advised to immediately discontinue the practise of antibiotic supplementation, however, occassional supplementation can be performed. Providing a balanced diet will also improve the quality of pigs and their health in the farm.

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