Project
Alternatives to veterinary antimicrobials: AVANT
The objective of the EU AVANT project is to develop, demonstrate and apply new prevention and treatment strategies for post-weaning diarrhoea in piglets in which pathogenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) plays an important role. Antibiotic application is currently the most commonly used therapeutic treatment in weaning diarrhoea and contributes significantly to current antibiotic use and development of antibiotic resistance in livestock.
The project focuses on the evaluation and application of novel pro- and prebiotics, deployment of early colonisation concepts (faecal transplants), of phage therapies and deployment of functional raw materials to stimulate piglet immune system development via nutrition. Both pre-clinical and clinical studies will be conducted. The results of the research will contribute to reducing health problems, and related welfare problems of piglets in pig farming, reduce antibiotic use, and lead to a reduction in loss of "resource efficiency".
Also, the project also contributes to the further reduction of antibiotic resistance with indirect positive effects on public health.In particular, Wageningen Research's contribution focuses on the evaluation of new nutritional interventions in research with piglets and on the determination of changes in the immunological and metabolic response of piglets as a result of application of the interventions introduced by the project partners.