Suggested Treatment Options by Condition [Farm Animal]

The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine

Reference Tables

Suggested Treatment Options by Condition [Farm Animal]

(C/S = culture and susceptibility testing)

Central Nervous System Diseases (Back to Reference) ↩

Condition	Targeted Organisms	First Line	Alternative Treatment	Notes
Bacterial meningitis	Listeria monocytogenes Escherichia coli Streptococcus spp. Histophilus spp.	Ceftiofur (ELDU)	Penicillin or Ampicillin (ELDU)
Listeriosis		Penicillin (ELDU) or Oxytetracycline (ELDU)	Oxytetracycline (ELDU) or Penicillin (ELDU)	Duration of therapy may need to be up to 1-2 weeks.
Nervous coccidiosis		Amprolium	Sulfadimethoxine (ELDU)
Otitis media/interna		Florfenicol (ELDU; see note)	Macrolide antibiotic (ELDU)	C/S recommended due to the likelihood of mycoplasmal involvement, warranting use of florfenicol.
Thromboembolic meningoencephalitis	Histophilus somni	Oxytetracycline (ELDU)	Florfenicol (ELDU)

Gastrointestinal Diseases and Hepatobiliary Diseases (Back to Reference) ↩

Condition	Targeted Organisms	First Line	Alternative Treatment	Notes
Traumatic reticuloperitonitis (hardware disease)	Control of secondary bacterial infection (mixed)	Oxytetracycline or Penicillin (ELDU)	Ceftiofur (ELDU)	Antimicrobial treatment unrewarding, but may allow short-term survival to calving; use in combination with drainage and lavage.
Wooden Tongue	Actinobacillosis lignieresii	Sodium Iodide (ELDU) and Isoniazid (ELDU)	Penicillin and Isoniazid (ELDU) or Oxytetracycline and Isoniazid (ELDU)
Lumpy Jaw	Actinomyces bovis	Sodium Iodide (ELDU) and Isoniazid (ELDU)	Penicillin and Isoniazid (ELDU) or Oxytetracycline and Isoniazid (ELDU)
Coccidiosis		Amprolium	Sulfadimethoxine (ELDU)
Colibacillosis – swine	Escherichia coli	Ampicillin	Oxytetracycline or Enrofloxacin
Enterotoxemia (“overeating disease”)	Clostridium perfringens	Penicillin or Ampicillin (ELDU)
Johne’s Disease	Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis	Not recommended (see note)		Antimicrobial treatment likely to be unsuccessful due to recurrent nature of disease; generally not treated
Peritonitis	Salmonella enterica Escherichia coli Clostridium perfringens Mycobacterium spp. Brachyspira hyodysenteriae Lawsonia intracellularis	Ceftiofur (ELDU)	Oxytetracycline or Florfenicol (ELDU)
Salmonellosis		Ceftiofur	Florfenicol (ELDU)

Musculoskeletal, Skin, and Lymphatic Diseases (Back to Reference) ↩

Condition	Targeted Organisms	First Line	Alternative Treatment	Notes
Blackleg	Clostridium chauvoei	Penicillin		Also relevant to treatment of other clostridial diseases (e.g. malignant edema, black disease, tetanus, bacillary hemoglobinuria).
Caseous Lymphadenitis	Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis	Not recommended (see note)		Antimicrobial treatment likely to be unsuccessful due to recurrent nature of disease; not generally treated
Dermatophilosis	Dermatophilus congolensis	Penicillin (ELDU)	Oxytetracycline (ELDU)
Erysipelas (“diamond skin disease”)	Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae	Penicillin or Tylosin
Infectious arthritis – swine	Streptococcus suis Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae Escherichia coli Salmonella enterica Haemophilus parasuis Actinobacillus suis Mycoplasma hyosynoviae	Tylosin
Interdigital necrobacillosis (foot rot)	Fusobacterium necrophorum	Ceftiofur or Oxytetracycline or Sulfadimethoxine or Tulathromycin, etc.		Product indications for specific organisms are variable; consult specific label prior to use.
Subsolar abscesses		(see note)		Antimicrobial treatment not indicated.
Wounds		Oxytetracycline	Florfenicol (ELDU)

Neonatal Diseases (Back to Reference) ↩

Condition	Targeted Organisms	First Line	Alternative Treatment	Notes
Bacterial meningitis	Listeria monocytogenes Escherichia coli Streptococcus spp. Histophilus spp.	Ceftiofur (ELDU)	Penicillin or Ampicillin (ELDU)	C/S recommended.
Bronchopneumonia	Mannheimia haemolytica Pasteurella multocida Histophilus somni Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae	Ceftiofur	Enrofloxacin or Florfenicol	Product indications for specific organisms are variable; consult specific label prior to use.
Diarrhea (scours)	Escherichia coli Salmonella spp. Clostridium perfringens	Oxytetracycline	Ceftiofur (ELDU)
Omphalophlebitis		Penicillin (ELDU)		To be used in combination with local drainage and topical treatment.
Sepsis	Streptococcus spp. Staphylococcus spp. Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae Listeria monocytogenes	Ceftiofur ± Ampicillin (ELDU)		C/S recommended.
Septic arthritis	Staphylococcus spp. Streptococcus spp. coliforms	Penicillin or Ampicillin (ELDU)	Oxytetracycline (ELDU)	C/S recommended.

Ocular Diseases (Back to Reference) ↩

Condition	Targeted Organisms	First Line	Alternative Treatment	Notes
Infectious keratoconjunctivitis (pinkeye)	Moraxella bovis	Oxytetracycline + Polymyxin B (topical)	Tulathromycin	Other topical treatments (e.g. neomycin-polymyxin B-bacitracin) may also be considered.

Respiratory Tract Diseases – Lower Respiratory Tract (Back to Reference) ↩

Condition	Targeted Organisms	First Line	Alternative Treatment	Notes
Bronchopneumonia – cattle	Mannheimia haemolytica Pasteurella multocida Histophilus somni	Ceftiofur	Enrofloxacin or Florfenicol	Product indications for specific organisms are variable; consult specific label prior to use.
Bronchopneumonia – swine	Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae Bordetella bronchiseptica Pasteurella multocida	Ceftiofur	Enrofloxacin	Product indications for specific organisms are variable; consult specific label prior to use.

Respiratory Tract Diseases – Upper Respiratory Tract (Back to Reference) ↩

Condition	Targeted Organisms	First Line	Alternative Treatment	Notes
Necrotic laryngitis (calf diphtheria)	Fusobacterium necrophorum	Oxytetracycline or Penicillin	Penicillin or Ampicillin or Ceftiofur (ELDU)
Pharyngeal or laryngeal abscess		Penicillin	Oxytetracycline	Should be used in combination with lancing/ flushing.
Sinusitis	Actinomyces pyogenes Pasteurella multocida	Penicillin	Oxytetracycline	Treatment only indicated in presence of clinical signs.

Urogenital Diseases (Back to Reference) ↩

Condition	Targeted Organisms	First Line	Alternative Treatment	Notes
Cystitis	Corynebacterium spp. Escherichia coli	Ceftiofur or Ampicillin (ELDU)	Oxytetracycline (ELDU)
Leptospirosis		Oxytetracycline	Ceftiofur (ELDU)
Mastitis	Staphylococcus aureus Pseudomonas aeruginosa Staphylococcus epidermidis Streptococcus agalactiae Streptococcus uberis Brucella melitensis Corynebacterium bovis Mycoplasma spp.	Cephapirin	Amoxicillin	Given intramammary; parenteral penicillin indicated if there are systemic clinical signs.
Metritis – camelid	Escherichia coli Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus	Penicillin (ELDU)	Ceftiofur (ELDU)	Given as an intrauterine infusion.
Metritis – cattle and small ruminants	Campylobacter spp. Leptospira spp. Trueperella pyogenes Fusobacterium necrophorum	Penicillin (ELDU)	Ceftiofur (ELDU)	Given parenterally; intrauterine infusions of penicillin or oxytetracycline have also been used, but efficacy is questionable.
Posthitis / vulvitis	Corynebacterium renale	Oxytetracycline (ELDU)	Penicillin or Ceftiofur (ELDU)	To be used in combination with topical treatment and dietary changes.
Pyelonephritis	Corynebacterium renale Trueperella pyogenes Escherichia coli	(see note)		Culture/susceptibility recommended; penicillin (ELDU) for treatment of C. renale or T. pyogenes, or ceftiofur (ELDU) for treatment of E. coli.

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