Efficacy of phosphomycin in the control of Escherichia coli infection of broiler chickens.

Seventy-five 25-day-old broilers were divided into three groups: group I unmedicated and challenged with E. coli O78:K80; group F infected and treated with 150 ppm of phosphomycin in their drinking water, and group C acted as a control. Their weights, feed intake, clinical signs, macroscopic lesions, E. coli reisolation, and serum biochemistry were compared. Group F showed fewer symptoms and gross lesions than those from group I while the average daily gain, bodyweight, and feed intake were similar to the control group. E. coli was reisolated in 32 per cent of the livers and spleens from group I, compared with 4 per cent of liver and 8 per cent of spleens from group F. There was an increase in the levels of total protein and globulins in group I but not in group F. These results provide evidence of the therapeutic efficacy of phosphomycin in the control of an experimental E. coli infection in broiler chickens.