The minimum inhibitory concentration of tilmicosin and tylosin for Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma synoviae and a comparison of their efficacy in the control of Mycoplasma gallisepticum infection in broiler chicks

The minimum inhibitory concentrations of tylosin tartrate and a new macrolid antimicrobial agent, tilmicosin, were assessed for six strains of Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and three strains of Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) in vitro by the microbroth method. For four of the strains of MG, tilmicosin showed a slightly lower minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) than did tylosin at both the initial reading (when pH 7.0 is first seen in the dilutions under test) and the final reading at 14 days of incubation. For one of the remaining strains, the MIC for tilmicosin was equal to or less than that for tylosin at the initial reading but greater at the final reading. For the other strain, the MIC for tilmicosin was greater than for tylosin, and for both of them the MICs were very much higher than for other strains. For the three strains of MS, there was little difference between the two drugs for one strain whereas the MIC for tilmicosin was slightly less for the other two groups. Groups of 30 chicks were infected with a virulent strain of MG and treated with either tylosin (0.5 g/liter) or tilmicosin (at concentrations of 0.125, 0.25 or 0.5 g/liter). One infected group was untreated and another group was uninfected and untreated. Clinical signs, mainly depression and nervous signs, were seen in two to five birds in the infected treated groups. In contrast, in the infected untreated group, 16 of 30 birds showed clinical signs. Mortality was significantly less in the infected treated groups compared with the infected untreated group (P < 0.001), and following infection there were significantly (P < 0.05) greater weight gains in the infected medicated groups. At necropsy the prevalence of gross lesions of the airsac walls was similar in all the infected medicated groups and was less than that for the infected unmedicated group. For the group on tylosin, MG was recovered from five chicks during life and from six dead chicks. The corresponding figures for the group receiving the lowest dose of tilmicosin were four for each: however, the organism was not recovered from the groups on the higher doses of tilmicosin either during life or from dead chicks. Serological results were negative for all groups except the infected untreated group, in which all three birds that were tested were positive.