Evaluation of the therapeutic activity of tulathromycin against swine respiratory disease on farms in Europe.

The clinical efficacy of tulathromycin in the treatment of natural outbreaks of swine respiratory disease (SRD) was evaluated at five European sites. Pigs (1 to 6 months of age) exhibiting clinical signs of SRD were treated intramuscularly with tulathromycin (n = 247) at 2.5 mg/kg on day 0 versus either tiamulin (n = 102) at 15 mg/kg on days 0, 1, and 2 (Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom) or florfenicol (n = 20) at 15 mg/kg on days 0 and 2 (France). Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Pasteurella multocida, and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae infections were the most frequently diagnosed pathogens. For both tulathromycin-treated animals and those treated with tiamulin or florfenicol, there were significant (P = .0001) reductions in mean rectal temperature and the severity of abnormal clinical signs on days 2 and 10 compared with day 0. There were no significant differences (P > .05) between treatments in average daily weight gain. Tulathromycin was found to be safe and highly effective in the treatment of natural outbreaks of SRD.