Clinical efficacy of florfenicol in the treatment of calf respiratory tract infections

Abstract

SUMMARYThis paper reports on a study of the aetiology of calf pneumonia and the clinical efficacy of florfenicol, a new antibiotic in Turkey. Twenty-seven weaned and unweaned calves (13 males and 14 females) between 1 and 16 months of age brought to the clinics of Selguk University, Faculty of Veterinary Science. Broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) fluid samples were taken from the animals diagnosed to have upper respiratory tract infection associated with bronchitis (N=2), bronchitis (N=5), bronchopneumonia (N=4), pneumonia (N=3), pleuropneumonia (N=11), bronchopneumonia plus pulmonary oedema (N=2) based on the results of the clinical and laboratory examinations. Then microbiological isolation and antibiotic culturing were performed. The animals were treated with 1 m1/15 kg (20 mg/kg) florfenicol (Nuflor®, DIF) twice within 48 hours via intramuscular injection. At the end of the treatment, 23 of the weaned and unweaned calves were completely healed, 1 calf had died and 3 calves showed no healing. The results of BAL samples and microbiological examinations of the 3 calves that did not respond to the treatment indicated that these cases were affected by mixed infections of yeasts, fungi, and bacteria. Widespread pleuropneumonia was observed. According to the results of the microbiological examination of the BAL samples, Mannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolytica had the highest isolation rate (25%) compared with the other isolated bacteria, namely, Klebsiella pneumonia (20%), Actinomyces pyogenes (15%),fl-henwlytic streptococci. (10%), Staphylococcus spp. (5%), and E. coli (5%). The study also revealed fungi IPenicillum spp. (5%) and Aspergillus spp. (5%)I and two calves (10%) had a yeast infection.. We conclude that florfenicol has a high bacteriological and clinical efficacy (100% and 96% respectively) in the treatment of calf respiratory tract diseases.

Pharmacokinetics and Bioequivalence of Florfenicol Oral Solution Formulations (Flonicol® and Veterin®10%) in Broiler Chickens

“…It has been reported that florfenicol showed greater activity than chloramphenicol and thiamphenicol, especially against Pasteurella, Salmonella, E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus [28]. Moreover, Florfenicol has superior pharmacological and pharmacokinetics features over some other antimicrobials used in chicken industry [18,29,30]. This drug is characterized by high bioavailability (F>80%), good tissue penetration and rapid elimination, which are important for the systemic treatment of domestic animals [7,15].…”

Antimicrobial-Resistant Enteric Bacteria from Dairy Cattle

“…Antimicrobial-resistant E. coli, Citrobacter, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, and Pseudomonas spp. are considered opportunistic pathogens, which can cause mastitis, enteritis, pneumonia, and urinary tract infections in dairy cattle (3,12,56). Recent studies have shown that Salmonella and E. coli isolates from humans and animals had the same antimicrobial resistance determinants (13,31).…”

Protective effect of florfenicol on acute lung injury induced by lipopolysaccharide in mice

“…It shows strong activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. It has been widely used to treat a broad array of infectious diseases, such as bovine and porcine respiratory tract infections [7][8][9], actinobacillus pleuropneumonia in pigs [10], and infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis [11,12]. It has been shown to be effective and safe.…”