Find the right infection dose

The absence of in-feed antimicrobials does not always lead to gastrointestinal disorders such as post-weaning colibacillosis (PWC) in pigs. Therefore Jos Houdijk and colleagues at the Scottish Agriculture College in Edinburgh set up a trial that focused on establishing the appropriate dose of bacteria that causes sub-clinical PWC. In the absence of in-feed antibiotics, such an experimental infection model would be used to better assess the effects of novel feeding strategies on (the consequences of) sub-clinical PWC.