Objective: To compare the field efficacy of Florfenicol with Tilmicosin in the treatment of naturally occurring enzootic calf bronchopneumonia. Design: Randomized controlled trial.
Animals: A total of 70 Holstein calves between 1-6 months old in three dairy farms of Mashhad suburb were used. Procedure: Calves with visual signs of pneumonia were entered into the trial. After physical examination, clinical findings were
recorded. They were weighed and blood samples collected by
venipuncture. They were randomly assigned to received either Florfenicol (20mg/kg bw, IM, 2 injections 48h apart, 35 calves) or Tilmicosin (10mg/kg bw, SC, 1 injection, 35 calves). Clinical measures of efficacy included mortality, rectal temperature, illness
index scores, assessment of treatment success or failure, and the
number of relapses or reinfections. Also, hematological indices, total plasma protein and fibrinogen were studied on day 0 and day 4 after the treatment.
Stattistical analysis: Independent t-test, Mann- Whitney and Chi-
Square.
Results: There were not any significant differences between two treatment groups (P>0.05). Resolving clinical sings in Florfenicol and Tilmicosin treatments were, 88.5% (31 cases) and 85.7 % (30
cases) respectively, which were not statistically significant (P>0.05).
No significant adverse reaction was noticed with either drugs. Conclusion: Results indicate that Florfenicol and Tilmicosin are
comparable in the treatment of enzootic calf bronchopneumonia.
J. Fac. Vet Med Univ. Tehran 59,3:277-282,2004.
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