Potential Animal Sources of Antibodies for the Development of a Chloramphenicol Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay

Abstract

The use of chloramphenicol (CAP) in veterinary medicine in the European Union (EU) is currently limited to pets and non-food-producing animals (European Decision 2003/181/EC). It was banned in 1994 from use in any food-producing animals in the EU and also in other developing countries, including Kenya. This was because it causes bone-marrow depression leading to non-dose-related aplastic anaemia in humans. A minimum required performance limit (MRPL) of 0.3 µg/kg has been established. A typical testing scheme for the presence of antibiotics in samples from food-producing animals employs a rapid and low-cost screening assay followed by confirmatory analysis using an analytical chemical method.