Tetracyclines in Food and Feedingstuffs: From Regulation to Analytical Methods, Bacterial Resistance, and Environmental and Health Implications

Table 1

Approved applications of tetracyclines in medicated feed for different food-producing animal species and their respective withdrawal time frames.

Pharmacologically active substance	Indications for	Usage level	Withdrawal time (days)
Feed antibiotics for swine
Chlortetracycline	Increased average weight gain and feed efficiency	10–50 g ton^-1	Voluntary withdrawal
	Reduction of jowl abscesses	50–100 g ton^−1	Voluntary withdrawal
	Control of leptospirosis in sows	400 g ton^−1	Voluntary withdrawal
	Control of proliferative enteropathies (ileitis)	Body weight dosage: 10 mg lb^−1 d^−1	Voluntary withdrawal
Chlortetracycline & penicillin & sulfathiazole	Abscess abatement; treatment of bacterial enteritis; upkeep of weight gain in the presence of rhinitis	100 chlortetracycline;100 sulfathiazole;50 penicillin	7
Oxytetracycline	Increased average weight gain and feed efficiency	10–50	None
	Treatment of bacterial enteritis and bacterial pneumonia	Body weight dosage: 10 mg lb^−1 d^−1, 7–14 days	None
	Control of leptospirosis in sows	Body weight dosage: 10 mg lb^−1d^−1, 7–14 days	None
Neomycin & oxytetracycline	Increased average weight gain and feed efficiency	10–50	5
	Treatment of bacterial enteritis and bacterial pneumonia	Body weight dosage: 10 mg lb^−1 d^−1, 7–14 days	5
	Control and treatment of leptospirosis in breeders	Body weight dosage: 10 mg lb^−1 d^−1, 7–14 days	5
	Prevention or treatment of bacterial enteritis and dysentery; maintenance of weight gain in the presence of atrophic rhinitis	50–150 oxytetracycline; neomycin body weight dosage: 35–140 mg lb^-1 d^-1	10
Oxytetracycline & carbadox	Treatment of bacterial enteritis and bacterial pneumonia	10–25 carbadox; oxytetracycline body weight dosage: 10 mg lb^−1 d^−1	42
Tiamulin & chlortetracycline	Control of dysentery; treatment of bacterial enteritis and bacterial pneumonia	35 tiamulin + 400 CTC (body weight dosage: 10 mg lb^−1 d^−1)	2
Feed antibiotics for cattle (up to 700 lb)
Chlortetracycline	Coacting in the prevention of bacterial pneumonia associated with shipping fever complex caused by Pasteurella spp.	350 mg head^−1 day^−1	2
	Control of active infection of 2 of anaplasmoses caused by Anaplasma marginale	350 mg head^−1 day^−1 or 0.5 mg lb^−1 of body weight day^−1, beef control of active infection	2
Oxytetracycline	Finishing cattle: to increase rate of gain and improve feed efficiency	75 mg head^−1 day^−1	None
	Coacting in reducing incidence and severity of liver abscesses	75 mg head^−1 day^−1	None
	Coacting in the prevention of bacterial diarrhea	0.1–0.5 mg lb^−1 of body weight day^−1	0 to 5
	Prophylaxis and treatment of the early stages of shipping fever complex	0.2–2 mg lb^−1 of body weight day^−1	0 to 5
Chlortetracycline & sulfamethazine	Feed for 28 days coacting in the maintenance of weight gain in the presence of respiratory disease such as shipping fever	350 mg head^-1 day^-1	7
Lasalocid & oxytetracycline	For improved feed efficiency and increased rate of weight gain and reduction of incidence and severity of liver abscesses in cattle fed in confinement for slaughter	From 25 to 30 g ton^-1	None
Oxytetracycline & neomycin base	Coacting in the prevention of bacterial enteritis	From 35 to 140 g ton^−1	0–7
Feed antibiotics for calves (up to 400 lb)
Chlortetracycline	Increased rate of weight gain and improved feed efficiency	0.1 mg lb^-1 of body weight day^-1 or 25–70 mg head^-1 day^-1	None
	Treatment of bacterial enteritis caused by Escherichia coli	10 mg lb^−1 of body weight day^−1	None
	Treatment of bacterial enteritis caused by Escherichia coli and bacterial pneumonia caused by P. multocida	10 mg lb^−1 of body weight day^−1	Variable
Oxytetracycline	Increased rate of weight gain and improved feed efficiency	From 0.05 to 0.1 mg lb^-1 or 25–75 mg head^-1day^-1	0 to 5
	As an aid in the treatment of bacterial diarrhea	From 0.5 to 5.0 mg lb^−1 or 35 to 140 g ton^−1	None
Feed antibiotics for poultry
Chlortetracycline & oxytetracycline	Increased average weight gain and feed efficiency	From 10 to 50 g ton^−1	None
	Control of synovitis caused by Mycoplasma synoviae and avian cholera caused by Pasteurella multocida	From 100 to 200 g ton^−1	None
	To control chronic respiratory disease of the air sacs caused by Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Escherichia coli	400 g ton^−1	None
	To reduce mortality due to air sac infections caused by Escherichia coli	500 g ton^−1	1
Antibiotics used in pets (companionship animals)
Doxycycline	Topical, to treat periodontitis. In dogs, used to treat bacterial infections and infections caused by Rickettsia, Canine ehrlichiosis (anaplasmosis), Toxoplasma, Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease), leptospirosis, and Neorickettsia helminthoeca (salmon poisoning).; In cats, used to treat bacterial infections and infections caused by some other organisms including Bartonella, Hemoplasma, Chlamydia felis, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, and Toxoplasma	NA	NA

in bold font refer to growth promotion approved applications. Data based on values set in [22, 28]. In USA, tetracyclines are no longer allowed for growth promotion after 1 January 2017.