With limited disease treatment options for hens in lay, the launch of a new nil-withdrawal product will be welcomed by producers.
Tiamutin 12.5% Solution from Novartis Animal Health has recently been authorised for use in the UK for mycoplasmosis in chickens and turkeys.
Mycoplasma causes chronic respiratory disease (CRD) in chickens, infectious sinusitis in turkeys, and infectious synovitis and airsacculitis in both. Mycoplasma infections also cause a reduction in growth rate and feed conversion efficiency in growing birds and can increase the damaging effects of other virus and bacterial infections, increasing mortality.
In adult laying birds, mycoplasma infections can reduce egg production especially when they break down at point of lay or in the peak laying period. In the UK recent surveys have shown nearly 80% of layer flocks were infected with M. synoviae.
Novartis says Tiamulin is highly active against M. gallisepticum, M. synoviae and M. meleagridis. It is from a separate family of antimicrobials and therefore is active against mycoplasmas that have developed resistance to the macrolides such as tylosin and tetracyclines. It is highly effective against mycoplasma especially when used in the early stages of infection, before secondary bacteria such as Escherichia coli have become involved.
But the company warns that Tiamulin is incompatible with the ionophore anticoccidials salinomycin, narasin and monensin and therefore they cannot be used together.
“Of particular significance is that tiamulin has a zero withdrawal period for eggs,” says poultry product manager and veterinarian, Jim Rawlinson. “Many poultry vets and layer producers in the UK have already expressed a great deal of interest in Tiamutin, as there is a very limited choice of antimicrobials that can be used in layers without discarding eggs from treated birds and Tiamutin Solution has a very useful spectrum of activity to help reduce losses from a number of common infections found in hens.”
