Pharmacokinetics of florfenicol after treatment of pigs with single oral or intramuscular doses or with medicated feed for three days

The pharmacokinetics of florfenicol, a structural analogue of thiamphenicol , were studied in six pigs after single oral and intramuscular doses of 15 mg/kg bodyweight, and after feeding them with medicated feed containing 250 mg/kg for three days, a concentration which provided approximately the sam e dose rate of the drug. The oral doses contained a specially prepared pell eted formulation of the drug. The bioavailability of the drug was similar f or the oral and intramuscular doses. Florfenicol was absorbed rapidly from the feed and its concentration in plasma remained between 2 and 6 mu g/ml - above the minimum inhibitory concentration values for common pig pathogens - during the three days.