Efficacies of erythromycin and chloramphenicol in extinguishing fecal shedding of Campylobacter jejuni in dogs

Oral treatment regimens of erythromycin stearate and chloramphenicol were evaluated in naturally infected laboratory colony dogs for their efficacies in extinguishing fecal shedding of Campylobacter jejuni. Of the 25 Campylobacter-infected English Foxhounds in the study, 9 were assigned to erythromycin treatment, 9 to chloramphenicol treatment, and 7 to no treatment. Antimicrobials were administered for 12 days. All of the dogs that received erythromycin stearate ceased shedding C jejuni by the fourth day of treatment and remained negative throughout the treatment period. Chloramphenicol was associated with a reduction in shedding from 100% to 57% by the ninth day of treatment. Within 9 days of the discontinuation of antimicrobial treatment, C jejuni was isolated from all chloramphenicol-treated dogs and 89% erythromycin-treated dogs.