Hampsonii Remains Most Commonly Diagnosed Species of Brachyspira in Western Canada

The 2022 interim results from the Brachyspira Diagnostic Service have shown Brachyspira hampsonii remains the most frequently diagnosed species of Brachyspira in western Canada. Brachyspira is a genus of bacteria, several species of which cause diarrhea in pigs.The Brachyspira Diagnostic Service, operated by the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in collaboration with Prairie Diagnostic Services, provides full service Brachyspira testing.

Dr. John Harding, a Professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences with Western College of Veterinary Medicine says, from January to June about 25 samples were analyzed per calendar quarter.

Clip-Dr. John Harding-Western College of Veterinary Medicine :

We diagnosed Brachyspira in about 25 percent of samples and, of the samples that were positive, the most commonly diagnosed species of Brachyspira was hampsonii and it continues to be the most commonly diagnosed species that we've seen over a number of years.But what's interesting is all of the other species were represented as well so we had some that were positive for murdochii, some intermediate pilosicoli and hyodysenteriae.

What is surprising is hyodysenteriae and pilosicoli, which are certainly the most common Brachyspira species in many parts of the world, are in fact the least frequently diagnosed species here in western Canada. What we are seeing is that antibiotic sensitivity is still a low demand test. I think the reason for that is that the antibiotics that are most commonly used on farms are still fairly effective in western Canada compared to other parts of the world where there is a lot more resistance that has developed over time.

Dr. Harding says, as antibiotic usage decreases over the next years to decades, he expects pathogens will be more frequently identified. He says ensuring a proper diagnosis of any diarrhea on the farm is a really important step toward rectifying the problem.