Brand: CYPAFLY ® Buffalo Fly Spray

Company: ELANCO (NOVARTIS AH)


FORMULATION: liquid concentrate for spraying.

ACTIVE INGREDIENT(S): Cypermethrin: 23.75% = 237.5 g/L

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


INDICATIONS: CATTLE


PARASITES CONTROLLED (spectrum of activity)


RECOMMENDED DOSE & Use instructions

Recomended dilution rate: 1:250 = 1 L product in 250 L water (or 40 mL product in 10 L water), equivalent to 950 mg/L = ppm (parts per million). Mix thoroughly

Liveweight Dose volume of diluted wash
Up to 100 kg 50 mL
101 - 200 kg 100 mL
201 - 300 kg 150 mL
> 300 kg 200 mL

Spray the required dose of the diluted wash along the backline of each animal usin a coarse spray. This product can be sprayed on cattle in the draining pen following dipping. Allow 3 weeks before retreating if cattle were previously dipped in a synthetic pyrethroid dip wash.

Read the complete product label carefully and ensure thorough accomplishment of all the use instructions.


SAFETY

  • LD50 (acute oral) in rats: for the a.i. 250-4150 mg/kg (according to MSDS)
  • LD50 (acute dermal) in rats: for the a.i. > 4920 mg/kg
    • Estimated hazard class according to the WHO: II, moderately hazardous.

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

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

  • Meat: AUS 3 days
    Milk for human consumption: AUS DO NOT USE on animals producing milk for human consumption or milk for processing.
  • ESI: n.a.

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

Cypermethrin, and all synthetic pyrethroids (e.g. cyhalothrindeltamethrin, flumethrin, etc.) are extremely toxic to fish and aquatic invertebrates. Do not contaminate dams, streams or waterways with product or used containers. Store original container, tightly closed in a safe place under lock and key.

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 to synthetic pyrethroids has been reported for buffalo flies in Australia and for horn flies (their close relatives) in the USA and elsewhere. Resistance of buffalo flies can be very high.

This means that if this product does not achieve the expected efficacy against the mentioned parasites, it may 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 for spraying, 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**?

  • GENERIC

*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: Australia
GENERIC BRANDS available? YES, with cypermethrin or with comparable synthetic pyrethroids. This brand with generic cypermethrin is marketed in Australia by NOVARTIS - ELANCO.

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

For an overview on the most used antiparasitic spray, dip & dust BRANDS click here.


COMMENTS

This product is one of the numerous liquid insecticides for spraying animals containing synthetic pyrethroids for the control of flies. Worldwide there are hundreds if not thousands of such products. Besides cypermethrin, numerous other synthetic pyrethroids are used worldwide in such products, e.g. cyhalothrindeltamethrin, flumethrin, fenvaleratepermethrin, etc. They all have a similar spectrum of activity and a comparable safety profile.

Cypermethrin is one of several veteran type-II synthetic pyrethroids. It was introduced by ICI & SHELL in the 1970s. Worldwide it is massively used in veterinary products as well as in agricultural and hygiene pesticides.

Control of susceptible (i.e. non-resistant) buffalo flies is usually excellent, because they spend a lot of time on cattle and thus are exposed to the insecticide for a long period of time. But as already mentioned, buffalo flies have developed high resistance to all synthetic pyrethroids in many places. Resistance can be that high, that this product and comparable ones with synthetic pyrethroids become completely useless against buffalo flies.

Insecticide concentrates for spraying such as this product often represent the cheapest option for insect control on animals. However the active ingredients used in such products are mostly rather old (introduced in the 1970s - 1980s) and many pests have developed resistance to them. More modern and more effective active ingredients for the control of biting flies are often not available as concentrates but only as ready-to-use pour-ons or in the form of insecticide-impregnated ear-tags. They are usually more effective, more convenient and with a longer protection period than the concentrates, but are also more expensive.

Cypermethrin and 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 (i.e. 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.

All synthetic pyrethroids have a certain repellent effect, mainly on mosquitoes. The repellent effect on flies is mostly 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". Cypermethrin has 8 isomers, 4 cis and 4 trans. Manufacturers of active ingredients usually supply the raw material in standard qualities, for cypermethrin typically e.g. in a 40:60, 50:50 or 80:20 cis:trans ratio. It happens that the efficacy against parasites and the mammalian toxicity of these isomers are significantly different. Typically cis isomers are more effective insecticides but also more toxic to mammals. Obviously a cis/trans 80:20 mixture is more potent than a cis/trans 40:60 mixture. Qualities with higher cis content are usually also more expensive. And the higher the percentage of the most active isomer, the lower the rate that is required for achieving the same efficacy.


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.