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MSD Animal Health (known as Merck Animal health in the USA and Canada) formally launched ZUPREVO® 4% (tildipirosin) injectable solution for pigs in all EU markets at a recent veterinary symposium held in Bruges (Belgium). ZUPREVO is indicated for the treatment of swine respiratory disease (SRD) associated with Bordetella bronchiseptica, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Pasteurella multocida and Haemophilus parasuis. The single-dose antibiotic works quickly and is long acting, yet it features a short, 9-day withholding period before slaughter due to its favorable human food safety profile.
The symposium marked the official European launch of ZUPREVO following the product’s successful introduction late last year in France, Germany, Italy and Portugal. It has since been licensed for use in Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Spain. ZUPREVO is expected to become available in more EU countries in the second half of 2012.
Field experience
Stephan von Berg, DVM, swine technical manager at MSD Animal Health, said that initial field experience in Germany has demonstrated the benefits of treating SRD with ZUPREVO. A controlled trial was conducted on a farm where nursery pigs were exhibiting severe respiratory infections, swollen joints and increased mortality. Post-mortem diagnosis had revealed H. parasuis infection with serotypes 1, 5 and 6. Three strategies were tried and compared: Some piglets were vaccinated with a combined Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae plus H. parasuis vaccine, some were treated with tulathromycin and a third group was treated with ZUPREVO. A fourth, untreated group served as a control. “Vaccination had no impact on mortality and tulathromycin had to be re-administered due to recurring respiratory disease. In contrast, one treatment with ZUPREVO significantly reduced mortality”, he reported.
Similar results were obtained during an 18-day controlled trial in Spain, which compared ZUPREVO with tulathromycin, said Jesús Bollo, DVM, swine technical manager at MSD Animal Health in Madrid (Spain). “ZUPREVO was safe and effective for the early treatment of an acute outbreak of Glässer’s disease (H. parasuis) that occurred at weaning or shortly after weaning,” he reported. Furthermore, there were statistically significant improvements compared to untreated controls that were not achieved with tulathromycin. ZUPREVO also demonstrated an excellent duration of activity. “The total mortality and the percentage of pigs that had to be culled were lowest with ZUPREVO,” he said.
Prevent economic losses
Raul Berro, DVM, global marketing director for swine at MSD Animal Health, pointed out that SRD is a prevalent cause of nursery pig and grower/finisher deaths. “Without proper treatment, SRD results in serious economic losses due to high mortality and in pigs that survive, there is lower feed efficiency, a high cull rate, higher treatment costs as well as increased days to market. Although vaccines for SRD can help control respiratory infection, their use is sometimes compromised by timing, the availability of appropriate vaccines and insufficient management practices,” he said.
For more information about ZUPREVO for swine, veterinarians should contact their MSD Animal Health representative or visit www.msd-animal-health.com.
July 9, 2012 - MSD Animal Health
