Dose titration study of enrofloxacin (Baytril) against respiratory colibacillosis in Muscovy ducks.

Four-week-old specific-pathogen-free Muscovy ducks were inoculated with reovirus. One week later, they were inoculated intratracheally with a O78:K80 strain of Escherichia coli. The next day, they were given enrofloxacin at different doses in the drinking water. Comparison of mortality rates, weight gain, macroscopic lesions, and E. coli re-isolations among treated and untreated birds showed that a 5-day treatment course with 12.5 or 25 ppm enrofloxacin in water for 4 hours in the morning provided good therapeutic efficacy against respiratory colibacillosis.