A major source of frustration and worry, Escherichia coli costs producers big bucks in the form of prevention, diagnosis, treatment, mortality and poor pig performance. Elanco Animal Health introduces a new swine product, Kavault, for the reduction in incidence and overall severity of diarrhea in the presence of E. coli in weaned pigs.

As a solution for pigs up to 14 weeks of age, Kavault can be fed for 21 to 42 days to pigs at risk of developing, but not yet showing, clinical signs of diarrhea, Amanda Kephart, Elanco director of swine marketing, explained to the New Product Tour panel, “Kavault is an easy, cost-effective way to deliver more thriving pigs out of the nursery.”

Avilamycin, a first-in-class orthosomycin antibiotic, is the active ingredient of Kavault. Kavault is an animal-use-only antibiotic and has never been used in humans. While Kavault is for animal use only, it is required to be administrated under a veterinary feed directive (VFD) because it is a newly approved therapeutic feed additive. Kavault features a zero-day withdrawal period.

Performance trials show Kavault significantly reduces the incidence of diarrhea in weaned pigs. Compared to the control, the diarrhea incidence rate for Kavault was 62.44% versus 90.79%.

For average daily gain, Kavault was 0.38 pound per day while the control was 0.29 pound per day. Kephart said, “In the diarrhea scoring, a 50% reduction in diarrhea for the Kavault pigs was reported.”

As a fairly new product launched into the marketplace in February, it has been evaluated and implemented in production systems, Kephart said. Hog producers are finding Kavault performs well in swine herds with a history of E.coli.

As with any medication, the correct timing and dosage is critical to optimize the product. Kavault’s main job is to keep the E. coli from attaching to the villi in the gut of the pig, so proper timing of Kavault medication will help ensure successful implementation.

The panel members acknowledge Kavault’s narrow spectrum but identify it as a good solution for E. coli, especially at a time when antimicrobial options in the market are limited due to the new VFD regulations.

Visit kavault.com to learn more about Kavault.