Danofloxacin treatment of cattle affected by CBPP
Hübschle, O.; Godinho, K.; Rowan, T.; Nicholas, R.
Veterinary Record 155(13): 403
2004
ISSN/ISBN: 0042-4900 PMID: 15499816 Document Number: 568082
This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of danofloxacin (2.5%) in both the treatment of naturally infected and in the prevention of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) transmission to uninfected, seronegative, in-contact cattle. The animals used were from individual farmers of the northeast Namibia. Adult cattle, taken from a natural outbreak, were divided into two groups of 10 animals and kept on a research farm in paddocks at least 50 m apart. The two groups were of similar clinical condition and had similar mean serological CBPP titres. One group (group 1) was treated with 2.5 mg/kg danofloxacin on days 0, 1 and 2, while group 2 was given saline. On day 2, a total of 10 CBPP-free, seronegative cattle were placed in contact with each of the two groups. After 3.5 months (day 105), 5 naturally affected cattle in both groups had typical CBPP postmortem lesions. In the 10 cattle in contact with group 2, six had been withdrawn for CBPP and a 3 more animals had CBPP postmortem lesions. However, for the 10 cattle in contact with group 1, only a single animals was withdrawn, and this was for non-CBPP causes. Although apparently ineffective in treating the naturally infected cattle, danofloxacin significantly reduced the transmission of the mycoplasma from the naturally infected treated cattle to the in-contact cattle to at least less than the effective dose in majority of the animals. Confirmation of these results in larger field studies is required but these findings could have important implications for the control of one of the most serious cattle diseases in Africa.