02328nas a2200253   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002260007000043653002900113653003100142653002700173653001700200653000900217100001300226700001300239700001400252700001700266700001400283245018400297300001200481490000800493520155900501022001402060       2011                            d  c05/2011bSchlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KGaHannover10aLawsonia intracellularis10aBrachyspira hyodysenteriae10aBrachyspira pilosicoli10aepidemiology10apigs1 aG Reiner1 aS Hillen1 aS v. Berg1 aM Kixmöller1 aH Willems00aAnalysis of bacterial load and prevalence of mixed infections with Lawsonia intracellularis, Brachyspira hyodysenteriae and/or Brachyspira pilosicoli in German pigs with diarrhoea  a236-2410 v1243 aLawsonia (L.) intracellularis, Brachyspira (B.) hyodysenteriae and B. pilosicoli are important pathogens in domestic pig production world-wide, responsible for porcine intestinal adenomatosis, swine dysentery, and porcine intestinal spirochetosis, respectively. Conventional PCR is the major diagnostic tool in the detection of the three pathogens, but the sole detection of bacterial DNA might lead to misinterpretations of results with respect to their clinical relevance, especially with mixed infections. Thus, the present study targeted the detection and quantification of the three pathogens in samples from herds with a case history of diarrhoea. Herds and samples were selected by the practitioners on a voluntary basis. Results were based on 1176 individual samples from 95 herds from Southern Germany. The pathogens were detected simultaneously by multiplex realtime PCR. The overall prevalence for L. intracellularis, B. hyodysenteriae and B. pilosicoli was 12.6%, 8.4% and 3.2% in faecal samples and 48.4%, 24.2% and 31.6% in herds, respectively. Sixty one percent, 82.6%, and 73.4% of herds positive for L. intracellularis, B. hyodysenteriae, and B. pilosicoli, respectively, had mixed infections. Median log values of DNA equivalents/g of faeces for L. intracellularis, B. hyodysenteriae and B. pilosicoli were 3.3, 5.9 and 3.2, with maxima of 8.3, 8.0 and 6.3, respectively. Within herd prevalence of B. hyodysenteriae and B. pilosicoli as well as the load of B. hyodysenteriae were significantly associated with the severity of diarrhoea.  a0005-9366