Flufenicol is a synthetic monofluoro derivative of methosomycin, which is a white or off-white crystalline powder and is odorless. Very slightly soluble in water and chloroform, slightly soluble in glacial acetic acid, soluble in methanol and ethanol. Is a new veterinary chloramphenicol broad-spectrum antibacterial agent successfully developed in the late 1980s.
It was first marketed in Japan in 1990. Norway approved the drug for salmonella in 1993. In 1995, France, the United Kingdom, Austria, Mexico and Spain approved the treatment of bovine respiratory bacterial diseases. It has also been approved as a feed additive for pigs in Japan and Mexico to prevent and treat bacterial diseases in pigs. China has now passed the approval of this drug.