[Chloramphenicol at a veal-calf stock farm].

Chloramphenicol is used in the treatment of respiratory infections in veal calves. Antibiotic resistance of Pasteurella to chloramphenicol was rarely observed upto 1984. The increase was recorded from 1984. The following dosages are recommended on the basis of findings reported in the literature: a daily dosage of 40 mg/kg body weight of chloramphenicol palmitate by oral route, and a daily dosage of 20-50 mg/kg body weight of chloramphenicol administered parenterally and preferably given in two injections daily. Malabsorption and aplastic anaemia were observed as toxic effects when a dose of 100 mg/kg daily was administered for five days and ten days respectively. Chloramphenicol may give rise to aplastic anaemia in human individuals, but also to idiosyncrasy, allergy and diminished activity of the bone marrow. Foods of animal origin should be free from residues of chloramphenicol. A three-week interval between administration of chloramphenicol to veal calves and slaughter would appear to be reasonable. Experience of alternatives to chloramphenicol in the treatment of Pasteurellosis in veal calves, such as flumequine and doxycylin, is still too limited in actual practice to conclude that chloramphenicol can be dispensed with.