Figure 5

Mortality (A) and morbidity (B) of vaccinated and placebo-treated piglets induced through S. suis cps14 infection. Piglets were challenged intranasally with 5 × 10⁹ CFU of strain V3117/2 (cps14) 14 days after booster immunization. Morbidity was defined as piglets showing an inner body temperature of 40.2 °C or higher. In case of high fever (≥ 40.5 °C), apathy and anorexia persisting over 24 h as well as in all cases of central nervous system dysfunction or clinical signs of acute polyarthritis, animals were euthanized for animal welfare reasons. All surviving piglets were sacrificed 14 days post-infection. Significant differences between piglets vaccinated with the multicomponent vaccine (n = 8) or the placebo (n = 8) were not recorded. Statistical analysis was conducted with the log-rank test.