Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the combination therapy of an antibiotic (enrofloxacine-arginine, Baytril® RSi) and a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID, ketoprofen, Dinalgen® 60 mg/ml) against a Haemophilus parasuis (HPS) infection in nursery piglets.
Material and methods: Forty-eight 3-week-old pigs were divided into four groups (group 1: non-infected controls; group 2: HPS infection; group 3: HPS infection/Baytril® RSi; group 4: HPS infection/Baytril® RSi/Dinalgen®) and housed within the isolation facility. After an acclimatization period of 10 days, the piglets in groups 2-4 were intratracheally infected with 1 x 10⁷ colony forming units (CFU) HPS serovar 5, whereas animals of group 1 received physiological saline. Total clinical scores and joint scores were calculated daily after clinical examination. Seven days after the infection, piglets were humanely euthanized. At necropsy, pathological findings on serosal surfaces were scored according to severity and extension.
Results: Group 1 had the lowest clinical and pathological scores, followed by groups 4, 3 and 2. Piglets treated with the combination of an antibiotic and an NSAID showed the lowest body temperatures (significant). The average daily weight gain (ADWG) was not significantly different between the groups, but piglets of group 4 tended to reach a higher mean ADWG (340.5 g/d) than animals of the non-infected group 1 (323.8 g/d), the Baytril® RSi-treated group 3 (278.0 g/d) and the positive control group 2 (247.0 g/d). Piglets of the positive control group (group 2) achieved the highest values in the clinical, joint and serositis scores.
Conclusion: The study demonstrated that a simultaneous treatment with enrofloxacine-arginine (Baytril® RSi) and ketoprofen had a superior therapeutic effect compared to a single antibiotic treatment with Baytril® RSi in nursery piglets experimentally infected with HPS.