Oral administration with gel enables vaccination of 48 litters in about three minutes  

Vaccination is critical to protecting your bottom line when you’re facing performance-sapping pathogens like Salmonella and Lawsonia intracellularis. Vaccination for these pathogens, however, can be time-consuming, labor-intensive and stressful to the pig and vaccinator. Turning to an oral vaccination method via gel could be a time saving solution.  

Boehringer Ingelheim has introduced an oral gel administration method for its Lawsonia and Salmonella vaccines, Enterisol^® Ileitis and Enterisol Salmonella T/C^®, respectively, that not only allows vaccinations to be administered prior to weaning, but is significantly faster than traditional methods of vaccination. In a study trial, when a commercial backpack doser is used, gel administration allowed for the vaccination of 48 litters, or approximately 578 piglets, in around three minutes, compared to the estimated hour or more it would take to handle and orally drench the same number of piglets individually.¹  

Gel administration also helps reduce stress — promoting animal welfare and performance — given piglets do not need to be individually handled to administer the vaccines.  

Gel administration is as easy as “mix and spray” 

Once the gel is prepared and combined with the vaccine, the mixture can then be sprayed directly onto farrowing crate mats. For optimal administration speed, using a backpack doser to spray mats is recommended.    

From there, piglets essentially vaccinate themselves by rooting around and ingesting the gel and vaccine. A pig behavior study demonstrated that piglets could ingest the vaccine in as little as 30 minutes.¹ 

New method, same trusted protection  

This new oral delivery method was introduced to help producers optimize their labor resources, and provide another option for orally incorporating these critical vaccines into their protocols.  

Oral vaccines ENTERISOL ILEITIS and ENTERISOL SALMONELLA T/C have been trusted by producers and veterinarians for years. Administration via oral gel has been proven to be as safe and effective as existing oral vaccination options, like vaccination via oral drench or through the drinking water.¹  

Peace of mind beyond convenience

In addition to being safe, convenient and effective, vaccination with the ENTERISOL portfolio provides peace of mind regarding efficacy in the face of maternal antibodies and commonly circulating Salmonella strains.  
 
Some vaccines can be rendered less effective, due to maternally derived immunity (MDI). Vaccinating pigs that have MDI could result in vaccine interference, leading to decreased immune response and diminishing returns on your vaccine investment, so it could be advantageous to choose a Lawsonia vaccination protocol with proven protection in the presence of MDI. Research has shown that pigs can be successfully vaccinated with ENTERISOL ILEITIS, even in the presence of MDI.² 

In addition, food safety is becoming a full-industry effort. With growing pressure and government regulation to reduce Salmonella in processing plants, controlling the bacterium at the barn level is becoming increasingly important for producers. Choosing a vaccine with proven protection against the Monophasic Salmonella serotype — the predominant Salmonella circulating today that poses both a swine and human health risk — like ENTERISOL SALMONELLA can be another safeguard in producing safe, high-quality pork.^3–5   

For more information on oral vaccination with gel and how it could be incorporated into your protocols, speak with your Boehringer Ingelheim representative.  

REFERENCES  
 

¹ Data on file at Boehringer Ingelheim.  

² Kroll J, et al. Maternal immunity associated with Lawsonia Intracellularis exposure and vaccination, in Proceedings. 18th IPVS Congress 2004;255 

3 Naberhaus SA, Krull AC, Bradner LK, et al. Emergence of Salmonella enterica serovar 4,[5],12:i:- as the primary serovar identified from swine clinical samples and development of a multiplex real-time PCR for improved Salmonella serovar-level identification. J Vet Diagn Invest 2019;31(6):818–827. 

4 Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica I 4,[5],12:i:-. Summary. Swine Health Information Center. April 2021. 

5 Leite F, et al. Enterisol Salmonella T/C^® Vaccine Reduces the Clinical Impact and Colonization of Monophasic Salmonella enterica Serovar I 4,[5], 12:i:- | SafePork (iastatedigitalpress.com) 

ENTERISOL^® and ENTERISOL SALMONELLA T/C^® are registered trademarks of Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica GmbH, used under license. ©2024 Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc., Duluth, GA. All Rights Reserved. US-POR-0053-2024-A