‘Some Common Questions about Medicines for Farm Animals’

Briefing Document No. 23

Why do animals need veterinary medicines?

For animal welfare

We all have days when we feel fantastic, others when we are ‘a bit under the weather’ and times when, through no fault of our own, we are really quite poorly.

When we are ill most of us automatically turn to modern medicine to make us better. We can do this without a second thought because we know that the manufacturers have spent years developing their products to ensure their effectiveness and safety.

Ironically, the same people who would not hesitate to take medicine to ease their own pain or discomfort, sometimes believe that giving medicines to farm animals for the same reason is in some way wrong.

Like us, farm animals can also suffer from bacterial and viral diseases. In addition, like us, they can catch a cold, fall victim to a flu virus or suffer from what we might generally refer to as a ‘stomach bug’. Whether housed indoors, even under the very best conditions, or kept outside, farm animals can suffer respiratory problems, or be affected by worms and external parasites such as lice and mites.

Unlike us, farm livestock can’t communicate what is wrong with them. They rely on us to look after them and ensure they receive the medicines needed to treat the conditions that might cause distress or pain.

Many of us grow up with an image of healthy sheep and cattle grazing in the fields, chickens scratching in the yard or pigs rooting in the soil. One of the misconceptions is that livestock kept using extensive outdoor or organic systems are free from disease and infection. That is far from the case. Apart from the considerable risks sometimes posed by natural predators, animals kept under these conditions still have to contend with infections and parasitic diseases.

Farmers earn their living from the animals they keep, so it is in their interest to do everything they can to look after their livestock. Farmers go to great lengths to select the right breed of animal for their specific farm conditions and end markets. They also take care to ensure that the animals are housed to high standards and fed the right diet to ensure they grow up healthy and strong.

...prevention of disease

To help maintain farm animals in the condition most people would like to see, farmers sometimes have to use modern medicines, which are more advanced, safer and effective than ever before. Where suitable products exist, the best way to ensure good health is often to prevent infection taking hold in the first place. In exactly the same way that we might have our children vaccinated when they are young, to avoid major difficulties later in life, medicines, such as vaccines are used to prevent potential health problems in our farm animals. Veterinary surgeons work closely with farmers to develop preventative programmes designed to maintain the health of their animals or birds.

...treatment of disease

Because preventative treatments are used to ensure their welfare, most farm animals remain healthy throughout their lives. However, where effective preventative treatments are not available, remedial treatments, such as antibiotics, might be used to help get them back on their feet, to prevent others members of the herd or flock from being infected, or to prevent unhealthy animals from entering the human food chain.

For healthy food

The explosion in the world’s population means that during the next 30 years farmers will have to produce as much food as they have done in the whole of the last 10,000 years. That will be a huge task when, even today, many of the world’s population do not receive an adequate diet. The use of modern medicines to ensure the animals we farm remain healthy and productive will play a major role in achieving that aim.

Let’s look at the reasons why.

Healthy food comes from healthy animals, so it makes sense to ensure farm livestock are always in the best possible health. Healthy animals grow more quickly, make the best use of the food they eat and produce good quality foodstuffs, such as meat, dairy products and eggs, at affordable prices. They also provide us with essential by-products such as wool and leather.

In contrast, sick or suffering animals not only cost more to feed but because diseases may affect the eating or keeping quality of what they produce, the meat, milk or eggs they produce often cannot be sold. In more extreme cases, it may even be unsafe to eat food from animals that could be carrying disease.

Medicines are essential if these hazards are to be effectively controlled. In fact, one of the requirements for eggs to qualify for the recognised ‘Lion’ quality mark for eggs is that the chickens that produce them are vaccinated against salmonella.

Professional livestock farmers earn their living from the animals they keep, so naturally it is in their interest to do everything they can to look after their livestock. Farmers are careful to select the right breed of animal for their specific farm conditions, take care that the animals are housed to high standards and that they are fed the right diet so they grow healthy and strong.

In the UK, farmers and veterinarians have an excellent track record of using animal medicines safely and responsibly to help achieve these aims. Every time a farm animal is treated, a record must be kept. Furthermore, the animal or its produce (eggs or milk) may not enter the food chain until a specified period (the ‘withdrawal’ period) following medication has passed.

The use of modern medicines is essential now and will become even more important in the future if our farmers are to meet the world’s food needs.

How do we know that the medicines used are safe?

Although some people worry about farm animals being given medicines, the majority of us realise that there is little cause for concern, and many good reasons why we should use them.

Animal medicine companies invest huge resources in developing, testing and manufacturing safe, effective medicines. Without them, veterinary surgeons and farmers would be unable to carry out their job properly and look after the welfare of our farm animals. Just think how you would feel if you went to your local GP and found the surgery had no modern-day treatments!

It should be reassuring to know that Europe has one of the world’s most stringent licensing systems for controlling veterinary medicines. In the UK, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), is responsible for authorising and controlling the manufacture and marketing of animal medicines. To protect consumers, it also carries out checks to make sure there are no harmful residues of animal medicines present in meat and other animal products.

To ensure that products reaching the market are safe to use and effective, manufacturers of animal medicines have to operate within a strict regulatory framework. All animal medicines are approved under what are known as ‘Precautionary Principles’. These ensure that the medicines we use are safe to livestock, to the people that administer them, to the environment and ultimately, for farm animals, to the consumers of any produce for these animals.

Why do some medicines have to be prescribed by vets?

We have already talked about how most of us instinctively reach for the aspirin when we get a headache. Like many other low-dose general medicines, aspirin is easily available over the counter and comes with easy-to-follow instructions telling us how much to take. There are also other medicines which can't be bought from the supermarket, but which can be brought from a pharmacy without going to the doctor for a prescription. Similarly, many routine animal health medicines are available to farmers from registered merchants operating under a Code of Practice with trained staff qualified to give advice on responsible use. These products carry full instructions, approved by the VMD, on how to use the product.

Many of the more potent drugs and treatments that keep humans healthy are only available on prescription after a proper consultation with a trained GP. Similarly, there are times when only Prescription-Only-Medicines (POM) will do when it comes to treating animals. Only veterinary surgeons can prescribe POMs for animals under their care, which is what you would expect. It is the job of the veterinary surgeon to correctly diagnose what is wrong, then prescribe and sometimes administer the most appropriate treatment correctly and safely. This ensures the well-being and safety of the animal being treated and, ultimately, the consumer.

For the same reasons that pharmaceutical companies are continually developing new medicines to treat human ailments, so too it is important that veterinary surgeons and farmers are able to choose from a wide range of modern, safe and effective animal medicines. Some medicines, such as new generation vaccines or oral rehydration solutions are even leading the way for human medicine development.

In no small part, the quality, safety and relatively low cost of the food products we now enjoy is due to the extensive research invested by the animal health industry in products to ensure the health of our farm livestock.