Abstract

Background:
Young farm animals are susceptible to the opportunistic infections which may cause economic losses due to mortality and poor weight gain. Development of antimicrobial resistance and desire to improve therapy efficacy and safety are the reasons to seek for new antibacterial drugs ensuring rapid recovery with minimum adverse events.
Aim:
To estimate the efficacy of DOKSI AVZ 500 in respiratory pathologies in young pigs.
Methods:
The study was conducted in 65–70-day old Yorkshire piglets with the signs of bacterial respiratory pathologies. The animals were treated with the test drug for 3 or 5 days. The reference group received TETRAMAX 500 which is similar to the test drug in terms of chemical structure, mechanism of action and spectrum. The animal status was assessed using clinical examination, CBC and bacteriological tests.
Results:
Both test and reference drugs were well tolerated and ensured the animal recovery within about 4 days. The recovery was accompanied with normalization of hematological parameters and flora composition. The bacteria associated with the disease development, Streptococcus suis, was virtually completely eliminated in all groups. No adverse events were noted. After the treatment, all the animals readily gained the weight and live market quality.
Conclusion:
DOKSI AVZ 500 was a highly efficient therapy for respiratory pathologies caused by the resident opportunistic flora in piglets. It also has shown noninferiority vs. TETRAMAX 500 in terms of all the health-related parameters and thus can be recommended for introduction in veterinary practice in pig farms.

Key words: Piglets, Opportunistic infection, Respiratory pathology, Tetracyclines, Drug testing