Right bug, right drug, right time

Antibiotics can save pigs and protect performance, but only when we stop treating “a problem” and start treating the right pathogen at the right moment. We sit down with Dr. Megan Hindman, swine technical consultant with Elanco Animal Health, to break down what smart antibiotic use actually looks like on farm and why so many disappointing outcomes trace back to one issue: mismatch. Wrong bug, wrong drug, wrong time.

We walk through the real-world decision tree producers face, starting with diagnostics. Dr. Hindman explains how timely lab work and past herd history help narrow the cause, then how to choose a therapy that reaches the target tissue where disease is happening. From there we compare common swine antibiotic delivery options feed medication for planned challenges, water medication for fast barn-wide treatment when pigs are drinking well, and injectables when you need certainty that each animal receives a full dose.

The conversation also zooms out to antimicrobial stewardship and long-term sustainability. Vaccination, biosecurity, ventilation, and feed management form the foundation, while antibiotics act as the sealant that closes gaps. The big takeaway is simple and demanding: prevention first, treatment second, paired with early detection by the people closest to the pigs every day.

Subscribe for more practical swine health conversations, share this with your team, and leave a review if it helped. What’s the hardest part of getting treatments right on your farm?

Transcript

Welcome And Why Antibiotics Matter

Speaker 0:25

Antibiotic use is a critical tool in maintaining swine health and performance. But how and when those treatments are used can impact outcomes. Joining us today to discuss what smart antibiotic usage looks like in practice and how producers can make more informed treatment decisions is Dr. Megan Hindman, swine technical consultant with Elanco Animal Health. Welcome, So, Megan, when we talk about smart antibiotic usage, what does that really mean in practice and how does that impact herd performance?

Speaker 2 1:51

I like to kind of round it out in three things. Right bug with the right drug at the right time. And that makes sure that we're uh doing diagnostics to ensure that we are working with the right bug or timing it correctly, hopefully early, as early as we can in the in the disease process. Um and then we're following that up with the right drug that matches the bug at the specific site of where the disease is.

Diagnostics And Choosing A Treatment

Speaker 2:22

Great way to put it. Uh right bug, right time, and the right drug. So, what then becomes the most important factors to consider when selecting that right treatment for a herd?

Feed Water Or Injectable Routes

Speaker 2 2:34

So, first and foremost, we're going to use the appropriate diagnostics and whether that means right now, right then, when the disease is actually happening, or using previous herd history from diagnostics that we've done in the past. And then just matching that with, again, the right drug and making sure that it's going to hit that target tissue where that disease is occurring. We're also going to make sure and look at evaluate our routes of administration depending on what disease process we're looking at. So currently we have three out there for the uh in this wine industry, and that's going to be feed, water, and it's going to be injectables. With feed, um, typically we're going to be even earlier. So it's more of a planned disease that we know is going to happen based on previous diagnostics and herd health history. Um, and we know that those pigs are going to consume it and be healthy enough to consume the medication that's currently in the feed. Then we have water, and we're going to make sure that the pigs can drink that water. It's going to be the easiest route of administration for the barn workers and the crew. But if the pigs can't drink the water, then that's probably not the drip best drug modality that we're going to use at that present time. And then the last thing is going to be injectable. Um it's going to require the most labor intensive sometimes, um, probably the most costly, but we know for a fact that that drug is going to get into that pig to hit that site and that organism.

Speaker 4:08

So, how do timing and dosage influence treatment success and where do producers most often go wrong?

Speaker 2 4:16

Um, so timing is really key, right? We were going to make sure that we hit it in the early disease progression, and that's going to be starting at what I call the slat level. Um, so those farmers, those producers that are actively caretaking for those pigs are gonna kind of have to be in tune to what those pigs are doing, whether that be noticing early signs of cough, maybe some even early signs of diarrhea and some early mortality, um, and talking with the supervisor and their veterinarian to kind of combat what that antibiotic plan is going to be. Um, because if we know we can treat them early, we have less scar tissue, less disease tissue that that antibiotic has to work through to actually effectively kill those bugs. Um and when we have that scar tissue and we have that disease tissue, our drugs don't work effectively. And so it really comes down to just making sure that we're treating early. And if we can do that, our keys to success are going to be great.

Speaker 5:19

So when integrated with vaccination, biosecurity, overall herd management, what does an effective antibiotic program, what does it look like?

Speaker 2 5:27

So when we think of vaccination, biosecurity, and just herd health management, and that could be anywhere from ventilation, that could be feed management, et cetera. Um, those are our core foundations. And when we want to build our house, um, any house where wherever you live, uh, you want it either built on concrete or you want it built on rocks. And so those are going to be your concrete and rocks. And then the antibiotic plan is gonna kind of be the little bit of mortar or the little bit of sealants around your foundation that's gonna keep everything out. Um, you need all of them. You need absolutely everything. And you can't just build your house uh with a little bit of mortar and a little bit of sealant because that's not gonna be judicious use, and that's not going to be um sustainable for that population or even sustainable for food producing and producing food for um the world. And so we want to make sure that we're using all of those and then just using strategic use of antibiotics to kind of close in those gaps.

Common Errors That Hurt Results

Speaker 6:30

Yeah, great analogy there, building analogy. Um, what are the most common mistakes that reduce antibiotic efficiency and what's kind of one change that producers can make to immediately improve their outcomes?

Speaker 2 6:43

Um, it all comes back to the right drug with the right bug at the right time. And so if we're not effectively using the right uh drug for that specific right bug, um, that's where things are gonna go a little bit haywire and our antibiotics are gonna be deemed not effective, but it's just simply because we're not accurately diagnosing the right bug. Um, an example would be when we think of um things like septicemia or neurologic pigs, right? I can think of four main um pathogens that affect that. Um, and all four of those bugs are gonna act very differently and they're gonna respond differently to different antibiotics. And so we really want to make sure we're keyed in on that right bug to ensure that we're using the right drug at the right time.

Key Takeaways And Where To Get Help

Speaker 7:31

I think there's a bumper sticker there, right? Right bug, right, right time, right drug. So, as we wrap up here today, what are the key takeaways you want to uh leave our producers with um when it comes to smarter antibiotic use and long-term herd performance?

Speaker 2 7:47

So when I think of the key wrapaways, I think of let's be purposeful and responsible with our antibiotic usage. We want to make sure that we're targeting, again, right bug, right drug at the right time. Um, and then we want to focus on prevention first, treatment second. Our antibiotics are not gonna continue to work if we don't do that in that following order. Um, and not only for the life of the pigs, but also for the life of us. And so um we want to make sure that we're producing sustainable, wholesome fork for our uh consumers, and that comes first and foremost with prevention first, treatment second. Um, and then if there's any questions or anything um that a Lanco technical um consultant can do, um especially when it comes to matching that right bug, right drug, right time, uh, we'd be happy to help.

Speaker 8:38

Very good. Great information. Thank you for joining us and sharing that today, Dr. Megan Hindman, swine technical consultant with Elanco Animal Health. Thank you, Megan.

Speaker 2 8:48

Thank you.

Re-Recorded Intro And Reset

Speaker 8:49

Likewise, we appreciate all of you and our audience for joining us here today. Until next time for Feedstuffs, I'm Sarah Muirhead. But how and when those treatments are used can impact outcomes. Joining us today to discuss what smart antibiotic usage looks like in in practice and how producers can make more informed treatment decisions is Dr. Megan Hydman, swine technical consultant with the Lenco Animal Health. Welcome, Megan. Thank you for joining us here today. Thank you for having us. For those of you in our own audience, and that was bad. Antibiotic use remains a critical tool in maintaining swine health and performance, but how and when those treatments are used can impact outcomes. Joining us today to discuss what smart antibiotic usage looks like in practice and how producers can make more informed treatment decisions is Dr. Megan Heideman, swine technical consultant with Elenco Animal Health. Welcome, Megan. Thank you for joining us here today. Thank you for having us. For those of you in our audience, thank you for tuning in. If you have any questions, feel free to post those there in the chat area on your screen. If you're joining us from social media, feel free to post your question directly in your social feed. So, Megan, when we talk about smart antibiotic usage, what does that look like in in practice and how does that impact herd performance?

Speaker 2 11:27

We think of right bug at the with the right drug at the right time. And that means we're using targeted antibiotics with the targeted disease that we're working with, and we're going to use them early in the disease process.