Isospora suis is a common pathogen in piggeries and one of the main causative agents of scours in suckling piglets. Besides specific treatment,
optimised hygiene including chemical disinfection is considered essential in the control of isosporosis. The suitability of
the cresol-based product Neopredisan 135-1® (NP) to inactivate oocysts in vitro and to reduce infection pressure in commercial
piggeries was evaluated. Under in vitro conditions, NP at a final concentration of 2 or 4% induced lysis of more than 95%
of sporulated oocysts at a contact time of 30 min and destroyed all oocysts after a contact time of 90 min or more. A total
of six trials (T1–T6) were performed on two farms (I and II). T5 was split into two parts, T5/1 and T5/2. Two groups of litters
kept in farrowing crates either disinfected conventionally before farrowing (controls, group C) or disinfected with 4% dilution
of NP before farrowing and with 2% NP one to three times thereafter (group NP) were compared in each trial. Altogether, 81
litters were randomly allocated to group NP and 77 litters to group C (comprising a total of 1,465 piglets). Piglet faeces
were collected individually 5 days after birth and six times thereafter in intervals of 2 or 3 days from four piglets per
litter and microscopically examined for oocysts of
I. suis. Diarrhoea scores, other clinical data (skin turgidity, coat length etc.), weights and loss of piglets until weaning were
recorded. One trial (T3) could not be analysed because of insufficient cleaning before disinfection. In group C, litter prevalence
of
I. suis ranged between 40 and 80%. The proportion of positive litters was considerably reduced by approximately 50% in disinfected
crates except for one trial, and the number of affected piglets decreased by up to 80%. Diarrhoea and oocyst excretion were
significantly associated. Diarrhoea was less frequently observed in disinfected crates. In general, isosporosis appeared mild
to subclinical, and no significant effects of disinfection on other clinical data, weight gain and number of weaned piglets
were noted. It is concluded that NP efficiently inactivates oocysts of
I. suis, and that additional disinfection after farrowing is suited to reduce infection pressure. No clear relation of infection
prevalence to the frequency of intermediate disinfection (one, two or three times) was seen, and thus, single intermediate
disinfection 1 week after farrowing is considered sufficient.