Drug Research Information Bulletin - Efficacy of AQUAFLOR® (50% Florfenicol) to Control Mortality in Chinook Salmon Diagnosed with Bacterial Kidney Disease

AQUAFLOR® (50% florfenicol; Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health Corp., Roseland, New Jersey USA) is FDA-approved for the control of mortality in all freshwater-reared salmonids due to furunculosis (causative agent, Aeromonas salmonicida) and coldwater disease (causative agent, Flavobacte-rium psychrophilum). Florfenicol is a broad-spectrum antibiotic with bacteriostatic and bactericidal properties and is active against a variety of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Currently, AQUAFLOR® must be used under veterinary prescription and administered at a dosage of 10 mg florfenicol/kg fish/d for 10 consecutive days. However, additional treatment regimens and aquaculture uses are being researched. As part of that research effort, we designed and coordinated a field trial to evaluate the efficacy of AQUAFLOR® to control mortality in freshwater-reared Chinook salmon (CHS) Oncorhynchus tshawytscha diagnosed with BKD.