Susceptibility testing of tulathromycin: interpretative breakpoints and susceptibility of field isolates

In vitro susceptibility tests were conducted on bovine and porcine respiratory pathogens isolated from European countries during 2004-2006 for susceptibility to tulathromycin using the recommended methodologies for broth microdilution. The results were compared with data from a similar survey conducted prior to launch in 1998-2001 to monitor for any shift in susceptibility. The importance of maintaining the pH of the culture media within the range 7.2-7.4 was re-affirmed as a key factor in obtaining consistent minimum inhibitory concentration data. The use of recently established interpretative breakpoints would indicate that to date there has been no apparent decrease in susceptibility to tulathromycin since it became widely used across Europe.