Poultry medicines - your questions answered

Poultry deserve the protection modern medicines can give them to prevent and treat infectious disease. But what sort of medicines are they given and how are these medicines approved for the market? These questions and others are answered by a revised version of a briefing document on poultry medicines, just published by the National Office of Animal Health.

Poultry medicines fall into two categories: vaccines to stimulate the bird's natural immune system to protect against a particular disease or parasite, and pharmaceuticals, given in water or feed. As with all medicines for animals, they must receive a marketing authorisation before they are allowed on the market. Companies must carry out extensive scientific tests to prove products meet very strict standards on safety, quality and effectiveness, the results of which are evaluated by the Licensing Authority.

Above all, the company must show the product is safe, not only for the bird which receives it, but also for anyone eating poultry meat or eggs. Consumers of British poultry meat and eggs can be confident no harmful residues of the medicine remain: the safety margins built in the calculation of the withdrawal period (the time after the administration of a medicine when no produce from that bird can be sold) take care of that.

Link here to the briefing document 'Poultry Medicines' , or it is available from Kleo Kyriacou at the NOAH office, 3 Crossfield Chambers, Gladbeck Way, Enfield, Middlesex, EN2 7HF, Telephone 020 8367 3131.

4 September 2002

Notes for Editors

1. For further information contact Phil Sketchley or Alison Glennon at NOAH, tel. +44 (0)20 8367 3131, or visit the NOAH website.

2. The National Office of Animal Health was formed on 1 January 1986 to represent the UK companies which research, develop, manufacture and market licensed animal health products. The association has 36 corporate members and 12 associate members. In 2001 NOAH's members accounted for around 95% of the £359 million UK animal health market, with additional valuable exports.