Natamycin treatment of ringworm in cattle in the United Kingdom.

A total of 258 cattle clinically affected with Trichophyton verrucosum (ringworm) were treated twice by spraying with a suspension containing the fungicidal antibiotic natamycin. One-hundred-and-forty-seven in-contact, but unaffected cattle were also similarly treated. Forty-one of the affected animals were examined mycologically and clinically as they were taken to be representative of the whole group. At eight weeks after the last treatment 93 per cent of the affected animals had completely recovered and the remaining 7 per cent had improved markedly; 70 per cent of the mycologically examined animals proved negative at the same time. No reinfection of the recovered animals or spread of the disease to the treated in-contact animals was seen up to six months after treatment.