The major indication for antibiotic use in Danish pigs is treatment of intestinal diseases post weaning.
Clinical decisions on antibiotic batch medication are often based on inspection of diarrhoeic pools on the pen
floor. In some of these treated diarrhoea outbreaks, intestinal pathogens can only be demonstrated in a small
number of pigs within the treated group (low pathogen diarrhoea). Termination of antibiotic batch medication in
herds suffering from such diarrhoea could potentially reduce the consumption of antibiotics in the pig industry.
The objective of the present pilot study was to suggest criteria for herd diagnosis of low pathogen diarrhoea in
growing pigs.