“Pig Almond Microorganisms May Be Key to Antibiotic-Free Pig Farming”

Isabela Fernandes de Oliveira focused her study on the bacterium Streptococcus suis, which is a major problem in pig farming, Resource writes. This bacterium occurs in all pigs; often without making the animals sick, but about 3 to 5 percent of the animals, for example, become lame due to inflammation of the joints or contract meningitis, blood poisoning or pneumonia. Infection by Streptococcus suis is one of the main reasons for antibiotic use in the pork industry, according to Isabela Fernandes de Oliveira. The bacteria is already becoming resistant: a threat to public health among pigs and humans.

One hundred piglets

Fernandes de Oliveira says to Resource: “Reducing antibiotic use has been a focus of attention in large-scale agriculture for some time. For example, my colleagues in the Host-Microbe Interactomics group are working on a vaccine against S. suis. What I researched is completely new to my knowledge: using the microorganisms of pig tonsils to find potential probiotics and natural anti-microbial agents that inhibit streptococcal growth or prevent infection. I think my results can contribute to a more sustainable way to control the bacteria.”

Microorganisms on the tonsils

Fernandes de Oliveira used samples from more than a hundred healthy piglets from eleven farms in the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. She isolated, cultivated and identified the microorganisms that naturally reside on their tonsils. The PhD candidate tested the effect of a few bacterial species in a small-scale farm experiment in a secured laboratory. “The microbiome on the almonds turned out to be a rich source of natural bioactive products produced by bacteria. We were not yet familiar with most of those molecules and many of those bacteria.”

Feed supplements for piglets

Much research is still needed, but the results have been promising. In the future, Fernandes de Oliveira envisions probiotics for pigs in the form of nutritional supplements. Farmers can add these bacterial species and the molecules they produce to food, water or milk for their pigs, for example.

Streptococci will not quickly develop resistance to the probiotics, she says, because these natural products combine different ways to inhibit the bacteria, instead of one way like antibiotics. However, resistance can always arise. Still, she thinks her results can contribute to a more sustainable way to control the bacteria.