Florfenicol is a bacteriostatic, synthetic broad-spectrum antibiotic. It inhibits protein synthesis in bacterial cells and thus acts against many gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. In the bacterial protoplasm, it binds to the 70S subunit of the ribosome and thereby inhibits the activity of the enzyme peptidyltransferase. This results in inhibition of protein synthesis on the ribosomes of drug-sensitive bacteria. Florfenicol is a thiamphenicol derivative whose hydroxyl group has been replaced by a fluorine atom. It also increases the effect of the medicine against chloramphenicol-resistant acetyltransferase-producing bacteria. Laboratory tests have shown that florfenicol is effective against many pathogenic bacteria isolated from pig infections: Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Bordetella bronchiseptica, Haemophilus parasuis, Pasteurella multocida, and poultry diseases such as Enterobacter spp., Escherichia coli, Haemophilus spp., Klebsiella spp., Pasteurella multocida, Proteus spp., Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp.
For oral administration.
The appropriate final dosage should be based on the daily water consumption.
Pigs:
5 ml per 100 kg bodyweight (10 mg/kg body weight) for 5 days.
During treatment, the animals should only drink medicated water.
If this is not possible, the daily dose should be divided into two equal portions, one in the morning, other after 12 hours.
Poultry:
The general daily dose is 20 mg florfenicol per kg bodyweight.
Chickens younger than 4 weeks:
1 litre of product in 2000 litres of drinking water for 3 - 5 days.
Chickens older than 4 weeks:
1 litre of product in 1000 litres of drinking water for 3 - 5 days.
- For meat and offal:
Pigs: 20 days.
Poultry: 2 days.