Evaluating efficacy of oxytetracycline, lincomycin, and tylosin for treatment of clinical European foulbrood disease.

Authors

Midhun S Jose, Harmony Woodrow, Maria Janser, Marina C Bezerra da Silva, Oleksii Obshta, Marcelo P Camilli, Emilio E Tellarini Prieto, Thanuri Edirithilake, Ryan Merkl, Igor Moshynskyy, Elemir Simko, Sarah C Wood

Published in

Journal of insect science (Online). Volume 26. Issue 4. Jul 01, 2026.

Abstract

Antibiotics have been widely used in North American beekeeping for the last 70 yr, contributing to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). European foulbrood (EFB) is a stress-associated, reportedly self-limiting, bacterial disease of honey bee larvae, caused by Melissococcus plutonius (ex-White 1912) Bailey and Collins 1983 (Lactobacillales: Enterococcaceae). Although oxytetracycline (OTC) is the only antibiotic approved for EFB, its continued use in North America requires evidence to justify it, given concerns about AMR despite no confirmed resistance in M. plutonius. Moreover, if AMR emerges in M. plutonius, the efficacy of alternative antimicrobials for treatment of EFB should be determined, such as tylosin (TYL) and lincomycin (LMC), which are approved in North America for managing American foulbrood. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of OTC, TYL, and LMC in treating colonies affected by a natural outbreak of EFB during spring 2024 in Saskatchewan, Canada. Forty-eight infected colonies were split into 4 groups of 12: 1 sham-treated and 3 treated with either OTC, TYL, or LMC per label instruction. Colony strength and EFB symptoms were monitored over 1 mo, and M. plutonius bacterial load was quantified via Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) pretreatment, 1- and 4-wk posttreatment. We found that all antimicrobial-treated colonies had significant improvement in colony strength relative to pretreatment. Adult bees from antimicrobial-treated groups also had a significant reduction in bacterial load 1-mo posttreatment. However, we also observed a spontaneous recovery in sham-treated colonies. Our findings support the clinical efficacy of OTC and highlight the potential of TYL and LMC as effective alternatives for managing EFB.

PMID:
42546162
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 04 Aug 2026.

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