On a farm where a diarrheal disease due to
Escherichia coli occurred in 59 of 74 sucklings from 8 sows, 49 affected piglets were injected intramuscularly with a fluoroquinolone AT-4526 at a dose of 2.5 or 5 mg/kg/ day for 3-5 days. With 2.5 and 5 mg/kg/day, clinical recovery was observed in 7 of 10 (70%) and 36 of 39 (92.3%) piglets, and the number of E. coli in the rectal feces decreased to less than one tenth in 10 of 10 (100%) and 38 of 39 (97.4%) animals, respectively. The number of
E. coli in the rectal swabs remarkably decreased after administration of AT-4526, whereas little effect was seen on
Lactobacillus spp. and anaerobic bacteria.
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