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Abstract

Objective—To evaluate clinical safety of administration of injectable enrofloxacin.

Design—Randomized controlled clinical trial.

Animals—24 adult horses.

Procedures—Healthy horses were randomly allocated into 4 equal groups that received placebo injections (control) or IV administration of enrofloxacin (5 mg/kg [2.3 mg/lb], 15 mg/kg [6.8 mg/lb], or 25 mg/kg [11.4 mg/lb] of body weight, q 24 h) for 21 days. Joint angles, cross-sectional area of superficial and deep digital flexor and calcaneal tendons, carpal or tarsal osteophytes or lucency, and midcarpal and tarsocrural articular cartilage lesions were measured. Physical and lameness examinations were performed daily. Measurements were repeated after day 21, and articular cartilage and bone biopsy specimens were examined.

Results—Enrofloxacin did not induce changes in most variables during administration or for 7 days after administration. One horse (dosage, 15 mg/kg) developed lameness and cellulitis around the tarsal plantar ligament during the last week of administration. One horse (dosage, 15 mg/kg) developed mild superficial digital flexor tendinitis, and 1 horse (dosage, 25 mg/kg) developed tarsal sheath effusion without lameness 3 days after the last administration. High doses of enrofloxacin (15 and 25 mg/kg) administered by bolus injection intermittently induced transient neurologic signs that completely resolved within 10 minutes without long-term effects. Slower injection and dilution of the dose ameliorated the neurologic signs. Adverse reactions were not detected with a 5 mg/kg dose administered IV as a bolus.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Enrofloxacin administered IV once daily at the rate of 5 mg/kg for 3 weeks is safe in adult horses. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2000;217:1514–1521)

Summary

A serologic survey that tested for antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii was conducted, using the modified direct agglutination test, on 6,965 serum samples collected from swine in 179 herds in Illinois in 1992. In breeding swine, results for 1,057 of 5,080 (20.8%) sera tested were positive. In growing/finishing swine, results for 59 of 1,885 (3.1%) sera tested were positive, which was substantially lower than the seroprevalence rate estimated in a serosurvey of pigs from abattoirs in Illinois in 1983 and 1984. Data in the survey reported here were summarized for herds having at least 28 samples/herd. Among all herds, the median, mean, and maximum seroprevalence rates were 6.7, 16.1, and 96.8%, respectively, for breeding swine in 172 herds, and 0.0, 2.8, and 20.0%, respectively, for growing/finishing pigs in 44 herds. Among the 172 herds with breeding swine, 61 (35.5%) had no seropositive pigs. Among the 44 herds with growing/finishing swine, 28 (63.6%) had no seropositive pigs. A logistic regression model was used to estimate that the cumulative risk of T gondii infection for swine in herds containing seropositive pigs was 9.0% by 6 months of age for a herd that had the median seroprevalence rate. In contrast, for pigs in herds in the upper quartile of seroprevalence rates, risk of infection by 6 months of age was estimated to be greater than 20%. Analysis of these data would suggest that overall prevalence of T gondii infection in pigs from Illinois is low; nevertheless, there is a small proportion of farms for which the rate of T gondii infection in swine is moderately high.