Dogs with superficial or deep pyoderma (n = 228) presented to first opinion veterinarians (n = 20) were treated orally with either ibafloxacin, at a dosage of 15 mg/kg, or marbofloxacin, at a dosage of 2 mg/kg, once daily for 3-16 weeks. On initial presentation, 35% of the cases were classified as having recurrent pyoderma and 40% as having deep pyoderma. Staphylococci (mainly Staphylococcus intermedius) were isolated from over 90% of the cases. The average treatment periods were 41 +/- 26 and 38 +/- 21 days in the ibafloxacin and marbofloxacin groups, respectively. One week after the cessation of treatment, 74 and 81% of dogs (P > 0.05) in the ibafloxacin and marbofloxacin groups, respectively, were classified as having responded to treatment. One month after the cessation of treatment, 70% of the dogs in each group were still classified as cured or improved, and 3 and 11% (P < 0.05) in the ibafloxacin and marbofloxacin groups, respectively, were classified as having relapsed. Despite having different pharmacokinetic profiles, ibafloxacin and marbofloxacin produced similar results when used under field conditions at the recommended dosages.

Twenty-one young calves with maternally derived antibody to bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) were divided into three groups of seven, each group balanced for BRSV antibody titre. The calves had no evidence of previous exposure to BRSV. The calves in one group were given a single dose of a monovalent modified live BRSV vaccine; the calves in the second group were given a single dose of an inactivated combined BRSV, parainfluenza virus type 3, Mannheimia haemolytica vaccine and the calves in the third group were left as unvaccinated controls. Three weeks after the single doses of vaccine, all the calves were challenged with BRSV. The clinical signs of disease were mild, and virus excretion was limited to two calves in the group given the inactivated vaccine, compared with six in the negative controls (P = 0.05) and five in the group given the live vaccine. The mean virus excretion titres after the challenge were not significantly different between the groups. There was little seroconversion before the challenge, but six of the seven calves in the group given the inactivated vaccine showed significant seroconversion within two weeks after the challenge, compared with only one calf in each of the other two groups (P = 0.015).

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In 2010, 81 confirmed cases of Salmonella Typhimurium DT8 were reported across England and Northern Ireland - an increase of 26% from 2009 and 41% since 2008. Five cases were hospitalized and one death reported, with a strong association found between cases and the consumption of duck eggs. Once present on farms, Salmonella may become persistent and can survive for long periods of time in residual organic matter, increasing risk of infection for follow-on flocks if cleaning and disinfection is not carried out effectively. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a range of disinfectants used by the duck industry against Salmonella using laboratory models. Sixteen products were selected from seven chemical groups and the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration and Minimum Bactericidal Concentrations determined. Each product was also tested at the recommended general orders (GO) concentration using a faecal suspension model to mimic boot dips and a surface contamination model to simulate contaminated building fabric and equipment. In the faecal suspension model, all products were effective at 2 × GO concentration, and activity was more inconsistent at GO concentration. At 0.5 × GO concentration, iodine-based and quaternary-ammonium-compound-based products were significantly less effective than products within other chemical groups (P < 0.001). Glutaraldehyde-based products were significantly more effective than the other products in the surface contamination tests (P < 0.001). Chlorocresol-based products were found to be most effective for use in boot dips and aldehyde-based products for surface disinfection, although there was variability between products within a chemical group.