USE OF ESSENTIAL OILS IN THE CONTROL OF CLINICAL SIGNS OF NEONATAL DIARRHEA IN PIGLETS BORN TO SOWS WITH DIFFERENT PARTURITION ORDERS

This study evaluated the liquid emulsion of oregano and rosemary essential oils in the control of neonatal diarrhea in piglets. We monitored 1334 piglets with average weight of 1.5 kg regarding the clinical signs of neonatal diarrhea. The design was completely randomized with three treatments (T): (T1) control (saline), (T2) essential oils and (T3) enrofloxacin. T1 showed characteristic clinical signs of diarrh between piglets receiving essential oils or antibiotic, regardless of the order of parturition of the sows. On the other hand, piglets with clinical signs of diarrhea born to sows with order of parturition less than three had a higher cure rate (74.6%) compared with diarrheal piglets born to sows with order of parturition between three and five 68.2%) and more than five (56.4%). The counting of heterotrophic bacteria colony, Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens, and histological analyzes of the ileal epithelium showed no differences (P>0.01) among treatments. The emulsion with essential oils of oregano and rosemary (2mL kg-1), for piglets between zero and eight days of age, might replace the enrofloxacin in controlling clinical signs of neonatal diarrhea.