Brand: Fly & Lice Spot On Insecticide

Company: ZOETIS


FORMULATION: «pour-on» for topical administration in one spot on the mid-line of the back at the shoulders.

ACTIVE INGREDIENT(S): Deltamethrin: 1% = 10 g/L

CHEMICAL CLASS of the active ingredient(s): Synthetic pyrethroid


INDICATIONS: CATTLE (beef & dairy) & SHEEP

PARASITES CONTROLLED (spectrum of activity)

CATTLE

SHEEP & LAMBS

  • Treatment and prevention of infestations by:

RECOMMENDED DOSE

  • Cattle: 10 ml product/animal, corresponding to 100 mg of deltamethrin per animal.
  • Sheep: 5 ml product/animal, corresponding to 50 mg of deltamethrin per animal.
  • Lambs (<10 kg bw): 2.5 ml product/animal, corresponding to 25 mg of deltamethrin per animal.

SAFETY

  • LD50 (acute oral) in rats: 31-5000 mg/kg depending on the carrier (for the a.i.)
  • LD50 (acute dermal) in rats: >2000 mg/kg (for the a.i., according to MSDS)
  • Estimated hazard class according to the WHO: III, slightly hazardous

Suspected poisoning? Read the article on deltamethrin safety in this site.

Withholding periods (=withdrawal times) in days for meat & milk (country-specific differences may apply: read the product label)

  • Meat & Offal: UK: 17 days
  • Meat & offal: UK: 35 days
  • Milk for human consumption: UK: NIL

WARNING !!!: Never use on humans, dogs or cats. Synthetic pyrethroids are toxic to cats!

2nd-generation synthetic pyrethroids (e.g. cyhalothrin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin, permethrin, etc.) are irritant to the eyes and the skin, both of humans and livestock. The inert ingredients in the formulation may worsen this side effect. Irritation can be particularly problematic for dairy cows because it can significantly hinder handling for milking.

Permethrin is one of the first Type-II synthetic pyrethroids introduced already in the 1970s by several companies (FMC, ICI, SHELL, etc.). It is massively used in veterinary products as well as in agricultural and hygiene pesticides.

You may be interested in the following articles in this site dealing with the general safety of veterinary products:


RESISTANCE PREVENTION

Risk of resistance? YES, resistance of houseflies and horn flies to synthetic pyrethroids (incl. deltamethrin) is widespread worldwide, and can be very high. Cases of resistance of stable flies and little houseflies to synthetic pyrethroids have also been reported, but prevalence is usually low. Resistance of sheep lice (particularly Bovicola ovis) to synthetic pyrethroids has also been reported in several countries.

This means that if this product does not achieve the expected efficacy against the mentioned parasites, it can be due to resistance and not to incorrect use, which is usually the most frequent cause of product failure.

Alternative chemical classes/active ingredients to prevent resistance of external parasites through product rotation:

These alternative products may not be available in all countries, or may not be available as pour-ons/spot-ons or may not be effective against all the concerned parasites.

Learn more about resistance and how it develops.


MARKETING

Are the active ingredients of this product ORIGINAL* or GENERICS**?

  • GENERICS

*Meaning that they are still patent protected and generics are not yet available
**Meaning that they have lost patent protection and may be acquired from manufacturers of generic active ingredients other than the holder of the original patent.

COUNTRIES where this brand/product is marketed: UK, Ireland and other EU countries
GENERIC BRANDS available? YES, in numerous countries. This brand contains itself generic deltamethrin.

Click here to learn more about GENERIC vs. ORIGINAL drugs.

For an overview on the most used antiparasitic pour-on brands click here.


COMMENTS

This brand is one of the numerous insecticidal pour-ons or spot-ons for cattle, sheep and other livestock containing synthetic pyrethroids for the control of flies, lice, mites, ticks and other external parasites. Worldwide there are hundreds if not thousands of such formulations. Besides deltamethrin, numerous other synthetic pyrethroids are used in such pour-ons, e.g. cyhalothrin, cypermethrinpermethrin, etc. They all have a similar spectrum of activity and a comparable safety profile.

Deltamethrin is a last-generation synthetic pyrethroid introduced in the late 1970s (BUTOX by ROUSSEL-UCLAF → INTERVET → MERCK ANIMAL HEALTH). It has a broad-spectrum of activity against insects, ticks and mites. During the last decades of the last century it has been very much used against agricultural, domestic and veterinary pests. Nowadays usage has declined because numerous pests (e.g. cattle ticks, horn & buffalo flies, houseflies, sheep body lice, fleas, mosquitoes, cockroaches, etc.) have developed resistance to most synthetic pyrethroids (incl. deltamethrin).

All synthetic pyrethroids are veteran pesticides developed in the 1970s-1980s and are basically contact insecticides. This means that when the parasite comes in contact with it (e.g., during the blood meal, after landing on a treated host, etc), the active ingredient that impregnates the host's hair coat penetrates through the cuticle of the parasite (the "skin" of insects and other arthropods) into its organism and disturbs essential biological processes in the parasite's body, in this case its nervous system.

After administration to livestock or other animals, synthetic pyrethroids do not have a systemic mode of action, i.e. they are not transmitted to the parasite through the blood or the host. Topically administered synthetic pyrethroids are very poorly absorbed through the skin of the hosts, and what is absorbed is quickly broken down and/or excreted. Consequently the concentration reached in the blood is too low to kill blood-sucking parasites. But this is why they are considered rather safe for mammals, both humans and livestock (cats are an exception: pyrethroids are toxic to them!) and why they leave rather low residues in meat and milk.

All pour-ons and spot-ons containing contact insecticides such as synthetic pyrethroids have the same weakness: they are applied on the back of the animal and spread more or less quickly along the hair coat to other parts of the body, but coverage is usually not homogeneous and some parts of the body are not or only poorly reached. How fast and complete the spreading is depends on a lot of factors (e.g. distance to the delivery point, rain, animal behavior such as grooming, licking, rubbing, etc.) but also on the inert ingredients in the formulation, which may or may not favour spreading. In any case, compared with the backline the concentration of the active ingredient will be significantly lower in body parts that are difficult to reach (e.g. udders, perineum, below the tail, inside the ears, etc), where parasites can survive because the concentration is not high enough to kill them. For this reason such pour-ons are mostly not effective enough most ticks & fleas. Irregular spreading may also cause chronic exposure of some parasites to sub-lethal doses, which is known to favor development of resistance.

For this particular brand, the fact that the same dose is used for animals of any size is likely to cause underdosing in large animals.

Trying to control populations of non-biting flies such as houseflies and other nuisance flies with on-animal topical products is usually ineffective. The simple reason is that they spend most of their time off the animals.

All synthetic pyrethroids have a certain repellent effect, mainly on mosquitoes, but it lasts usually only a few days, if at all. The repellent effect on flies is weaker than on mosquitoes.

It is useful to know that the active ingredients of many synthetic pyrethroids consist in a mixture of various optical isomers, typically those called "cis", and those called "trans", which have different efficacy and toxicity. Deltamethrin is an exception to this because it consists of a single isomer.


DISCLAIMER

This article IS NOT A PRODUCT LABEL. It offers complementary information that may be useful to veterinary professionals and users that are not familiar with veterinary antiparasitics. 

Information offered in this article has been extracted from publications issued by manufacturers, government agencies (e.g. EMEA, FDA, USDA, etc.) or in the scientific literature. No guarantee is given on its accuracy, integrity, sufficiency, actuality and opportunity, and any liability is denied. Read the site's DISCLAIMER.

In case of doubt contact the manufacturer or a veterinary professional.