Brand: AVITROL PLUS SYRUP
Company: MAVLAB
DELIVERY FORM: «additives and medicated feeds» for oral administration with drinking water.
- Levamisole hydrochloride: 8.48 mg/mL (=0.8%)
- Praziquantel: 2 mg/mL (=0.2%)
CHEMICAL CLASS of the active ingredient(s):
- Levamisole hydrochloride: imidazothiazole
- Praziquantel: isoquinoline
INDICATIONS: ORNAMENTA & CAGE BIRDS
PARASITES CONTROLLED* (spectrum of activity)
- Large Roundworm (Ascaridia spp)
- Caecal Worm (Heterakis spp)
- Threadworm (Capillaria spp)
- Gape Worm (Syngamus spp)
- Gizzard Worm (Acuaria spp)
- Tapeworm (Raillietina spp)
* Country-specific differences may apply: read the product label.
RECOMMENDED DOSE
Dose guide for crop administration
Type of bird; Weight of Bird; Dose (drops of undiluted syrup)
- Finch 15 g 1.5
- Budgerigar 30 g 3.0
- Budgerigar 50 g 5.0
- Cockatiel 80 g 8.0
- Cockatoo 500 g 50.0
Make up dose to 1 to 5 mL with water in a syringe.
- Crop administration. A crop needle or tube placed directly into the crop can be used to administer Avitrol Plus syrup by syringe. Do not administer any liquid into the crop unless you are confident that the crop needle or tube is correctly placed.
- Diluted in drinking water: 0.5mL (12 drops) to 20mL of water or 25mL/L. Use this as the sole source of drinking water for 24 hours and feed only seed, then replace with fresh clean water. Solution should be freshly made up before dosing. Repeat in 14 days with fresh solution, or as directed by a veterinary surgeon. This provides a dose of 40mg/kg bodyweight based on an average bodyweight of 30g and consumption of 5mL/day. In summer the dose should be reduced to account for increased water consumption, which may be double or more.
- For threadworm, caecal worm, gape worm and roundworm a dose of 0.025mg/g (25mg/kg) bodyweight has been found adequate. For gizzard worm a dose of 0.05mg/g (50mg/kg) is necessary.
- Good husbandry practices: Zone control is important in the management of these worm parasites. To prevent re-infestation, practise good hygiene and sanitation, and eliminate dampness. Ideally the birds should be moved into a clean cage 48 hours after initial treatment, and the old cage thoroughly scrubbed and disinfected. To prevent infection from the outside, prevent birds access to intermediate hosts, e.g. grasshoppers, cockroaches and earthworms. Wild birds can infect the aviary with their droppings.
Read the product label for further details on dosing.
SAFETY
- LD50 (acute oral) in rats: 180 mg/kg (for the a.i.)
- LD50 (acute dermal) in rats: n.a.
Suspected poisoning? Read the article on levamisole safety in this site.
Withholding periods (=withdrawal times)
- Meat: New Zealand: 14 days
- Eggs: New Zealand: 10 days
WARNING !!!: Never use on humans, dogs or cats
You may be interested in the following articles in this site dealing with the general safety of veterinary products:
- Safety for humans
- Safety for domestic animals
- Safety for the environment
- Hazard classifications of pesticides
RESISTANCE PREVENTION
Risk of resistance? LOW
So far there are no reports on resistance of poultry & bird roundworms or tapeqorms to anthelmintics.
This means that if this product does not achieve the expected efficacy against the mentioned parasites, it is likely to be due to incorrect use (not to resistance), which is usually the most frequent cause of product failure.
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: New Zealand
GENERIC BRANDS available? Yes, a few ones in most countries, perhaps not with the same composition.
Click here to learn more about GENERIC vs. ORIGINAL drugs.
Click here for an overview on the most used antiparasitic feed additives and medicated feeds for livestock and horses.
COMMENTS
This product is a classic oral anthelmintic for ORNAMENTAL BIRDS from MAVLAB containing generic levamisole and praziquantel.
Levamisole is a veteran anthelmintic. It was introduced by JANSSEN already in the 1960s (NILVERM, RIPERCOL). It has a broad-spectrum of activity against roundworms (gastrointestinal and pulmonary) but no efficacy whatsoever against tapeworms and flukes. It is also completely ineffective against external parasites of livestock (ticks, flies, lice, mites, etc). Levamisole has been used massively worldwide in countless generic formulations for livestock. It still remains one of the most preferred low-cost anthelmintics for livestock worldwide. Usage in poultry, birds and swine is moderate, rather scarce in pets or horses. It is not used in agriculture.
Praziquantel is another veteran anthelmintic introduced in the 1970s (by BAYER). It is highly effective against tapeworms but has no efficacy whatsoever against roundworms. It is the anthelmintic most vastly used against tapeworms in horses and pets, used in hundreds of brands. It is scarcely used in livestock, birds or swine. It is not used in agriculture.
As many other anthelmintics (e.g. benzimidazoles, tetrahydropyrimidines) levamisole and praziquantel administered orally have no residual effect, i.e. they kill the parasites shortly after administration, but do not significantly protect the animals against re-infestation by infective stages in their environment.
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.