title: Efficacy of chloramphenicol, enrofloxacin, and tetracycline for treatment of experimental Rocky Mountain spotted fever in dogs.
abstract: Dogs were experimentally inoculated with Rickettsia rickettsii to characterize the comparative efficacies of chloramphenicol, enrofloxacin, and tetracycline for the treatment of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF). All three antibiotics were equally effective in abrogating the clinical, hematologic, and vascular indicators of rickettsial infection. Antibiotic treatment for 24 h was sufficient to decrease the rickettsemia to levels below detection by Vero cell culture. Early treatment with all three antibiotics resulted in a similar decrease in antibody titer, but acute and convalescent serum samples taken at appropriate times would have still facilitated an accurate diagnosis of RMSF in all but one dog, which did not seroconvert. We conclude that chloramphenicol, enrofloxacin, and tetracycline are equally efficacious for treating experimental canine RMSF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Companion Animal and Special Species Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27606.
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Breitschwerdt
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Aucoin
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Szabados
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Hegarty
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Kuehne
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: James
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D002199:Capillary Permeability / Q000502:physiology; D002701:Chloramphenicol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004285:Dogs; D000077422:Enrofloxacin; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D024841:Fluoroquinolones; D015363:Quinolones / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012373:Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013752:Tetracycline / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014709:Vero Cells
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D024841:Fluoroquinolones; D015363:Quinolones; D000077422:Enrofloxacin; D002701:Chloramphenicol; D013752:Tetracycline