Brand: ECTOSPEC 2.5% w/v Pour-on Solution

Company: BIMEDA


FORMULATION: «pour-on» for topical administration as a single strip along the backline.

ACTIVE INGREDIENT(S): cypermethrin: 2.5% = 25 g/L

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


INDICATIONS: CATTLE

PARASITES CONTROLLED (spectrum of activity)

Cattle


RECOMMENDED DOSE

  • 10 ml product / animal
  • A single 10 ml dose is normally sufficient to control lice. A few lice may survive on a small minority of animals. In
    cases of heavy challenge, if necessary, a repeat dose may be applied after 4 weeks.
  • Apply a single 10 ml dose against flies at the onset of the fly season and repeat as necessary at 5 to 8 week intervals. Frequency of
    administration may, however, have to be varied depending on the level and type of infestation.

SAFETY

  • LD50 (acute oral) in rats: Cypermethrin a.i. 250 (oily vehicle) to 5150 mg/kg (aqueous vehicle)
  • LD50 (acute dermal) in rats: Cypermethrin a.i. >4920 mg/kg
  • Estimated hazard class of cypermethrin according to the WHO: U unlikely to present acute hazard

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: Ireland 10 days
  • Milk for human consumption: Ireland NIL. Cows should be treated immediately after milking to allow as long a time as possible to elapse before the next milking.

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.

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 horn flies (Haematobia irritans) and houseflies (Musca domestica) to synthetic pyrethroids (incl. cypermethrin) is widespread worldwide, and can be very high. Cases of resistance of stable flies and little house flies to synthetic pyrethroids have also been reported, but prevalence is usually low.

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, 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: Ireland
GENERIC BRANDS available? YES, in most countries. This product itself contains generic cypermethrin.

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

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

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 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 favor 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 against parasites such as ticks & fleas. Irregular spreading may also cause chronic exposure of some parasites to sub-lethal doses, which is known to favor development of resistance.

Control of susceptible (i.e. non-resistant) horn flies is usually good, 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, horn flies have developed high resistance to all synthetic pyrethroids in many countries. Lice are also exposed to topical insecticides for a long period of time because they never leave the host. However stable flies bite the treated animal anywhere in its body and remain attached and thus exposed to the insecticide only during their blood meals that last a few seconds or minutes, which is often too short to kill them. Trying to control housefly populations 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". 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 or 80:20 cis:trans ratio. This product contains a 50:50 mixture. 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 a 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. If a manufacturer does not disclose the cis:trans ratio of the active ingredient used in its products it may be confusing because he may be selling the "same" product as another manufacturer, but the use recommendations are different.


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.