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Diagnosis | Pasteurellosis

Lab Animal volume 37, pages 18–19 (2008)Cite this article

We treated the three affected rabbits with a single dose of 25 mg tilmicosin per kg body weight administered subcutaneously. One day after treatment, the nasal discharge and sneezing had resolved. The rabbit with clinical signs of pneumonia was much more active than it had been the previous day, was seen eating a small amount of food and had a normal body temperature. The rabbit's respiration was still somewhat labored, and on auscultation, lung sounds, though improved from the previous day, were still prominent. By the second day after treatment, however, respiration and lung sounds were normal.

Over a subsequent 2-year period, we used tilmicosin to treat 40 rabbits with clinical signs of pasteurellosis (inappetence, nasal discharge, sneezing, conjunctivitis and dyspnea). In 30 rabbits (75%), clinical signs resolved within 1–2 days of treatment, without any subsequent signs of disease. In eight rabbits, clinical signs persisted, and a second dose of tilmicosin was administered 3 days later. After this second dose, clinical signs disappeared and each rabbit was able to complete its research study. One rabbit that had severe respiratory distress at the time of treatment died 2 days after treatment. Post-mortem examination showed severe fibrinopurulent pneumonia with a pulmonary abscess that contained approximately 10 ml of purulent material; P. multocida was isolated from the lungs. Another rabbit redeveloped a nasal discharge every 2–3 months for more than 1 year. Each time, clinical signs were responsive to tilmicosin treatment. We did not see any toxic side effects of treatment in any of the rabbits that were treated.

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Figure 3: Typical appearance of P. multocida colonies on sheep blood agar.
Figure 4: Microscopic section of the lungs in Figure 2 (hematoxylin and eosin stain, high-power magnification).

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Diagnosis | Pasteurellosis. Lab Anim 37, 18–19 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban0108-18

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