The immune response of pigs to infection with the stomach worm Hyostrongylus rubidus (Hassall and Stiles, 1892): I. Antibody production in response to primary infection

Pigs infected with single doses of third stage Hyostrongylus rubidus larvae showed a detectable circulating agglutinin response as early as 2 days post infection. Although titres fluctuated considerably before patency, a trend in antibody production could be detected which followed the active development and growth of larvae in the gastric mucosa. At patency, titres showed a large, rapid increase followed by an equally dramatic decrease, after which titres remained stable or increased gradually.Pigs infected with adult worms did not show a detectable agglutinin response until 7 days post infection or later. Little fluctuation in titre was observed.Response variation between different levels of infection was great as was the variation between different litters subjected to the same infection regime. No statistical difference could be found in total antibody production between pigs infected with different larval numbers at any time during the duration of the trial.