Efficacy of phosphomycin in the control of Escherichia coli infection of broiler chickens

• Published in: Research in veterinary science Vol. 65; no. 3; pp. 201 - 204
• Main Authors: Fernandez, A., Lara, C., Puyuelo, R., Gomez, J., Ramos, J.J., Loste, A., Marca, M.C., Verde, M.T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier India Pvt Ltd 01.11.1998
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Body Weight; Chickens; Eating; Escherichia coli Infections - drug therapy; Escherichia coli Infections - veterinary; Fosfomycin - therapeutic use; Liver - pathology; Organ Size - drug effects; Poultry Diseases - drug therapy; Poultry Diseases - microbiology; Spleen - pathology
• ISSN: 0034-5288; 1532-2661
• DOI: 10.1016/S0034-5288(98)90143-6

Seventy-five 25-day-old broilers were divided into three groups: group I unmedicated and challenged with E coli 078:K80; group F infected and treated with 150 ppm of phosphomycin in their drinking water, and group C acted as a control. Their weights, feed intake, clinical signs, macroscopic lesions, E coli reisolation, and serum biochemistry were compared. Group F showed fewer symptoms and gross lesions than those from group I while the average daily gain, bodyweight, and feed intake were similar to the control group. E coli was reisolated in 32 per cent of the livers and spleens from group I, compared with 4 per cent of liver and 8 per cent of spleens from group F. There was an increase in the levels of total protein and globulins in group I but not in group F. These results provide evidence of the therapeutic efficacy of phosphomycin in the control of an experimental E coli infection in broiler chickens.