Feather segmentation to discriminate between different enrofloxacin treatments in order to monitor off-label use in the poultry sector

Antibiotics are commonly used in the poultry industry<br/>to treat bacterial infections. In the combat against bacterial<br/>resistance, policies require, besides a reduction of antibiotic<br/>usage in humans and animals, an up-to-date farmer<br/>registration mentioning all treatments. For enforcement of<br/>such policies, tests are needed to antedate administration and<br/>to determine the type of treatment so as to prevent off-label<br/>use and the supervacaneous use of last-resort antibiotics like<br/>cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones. After poultry treatment,<br/>high amounts of enrofloxacin and its metabolite ciprofloxacin<br/>are deposited in chicken feathers. A method is presented to<br/>discriminate different treatments based on differentiating extractable<br/>and non-extractable enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin<br/>in chicken feathers.With this approach, we show it is possible<br/>to distinguish between a registered therapeutic oral treatment,<br/>an off-label spray treatment and an illegal prolonged subtherapeutic<br/>treatment with enrofloxacin. This approach is a<br/>new and strong tool in the enforcement of new policies in<br/>the fight against off-label and supervacaneous antibiotic use