Residues of Ceftiofur in Healthy Rabbits after Intramuscular Administration
Abstract
The study was performed to quantitatively determine ceftiofur residues in different rabbit’s tissues and to estimate the withdrawal time after intramuscular injection of the drug at a dose of 2.2 mg/kg BW by using high performance liquid chromatography technique. A total of twenty healthy male New Zealand White rabbits were used in this study, the rabbits were divided into two groups; the first group (n=15) was injected with ceftiofur for five successive days, while the second group (n = 5) remained untreated with any type of medication (control). Liver, kidney, muscle, heart, blood and lung samples from each rabbit were collected on the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th day post treatment. The results indicated a wide spread distribution of ceftiofur in the tested tissues, which remained within the detectable level till the 3rd day in the investigated tissues (heart, muscle and serum), while still detected till the 5th day post treatment in liver, kidney and lung respectively. Therefore, it is recommended that rabbits treated with ceftiofur must not be slaughtered before the end of the fifth day after the last dose admistration in order to be safe for human consumption.
