WARNING: FDA Recalls Certain Wormer Pellets in Missouri and Arizona

Here is the text of a warning published by the US Food and Drug Administration in their Enforcement Report for this week:

PRODUCT
Horse and Colt Wormer packaged in 16-oz. containers under 5 private labels, containing 1.25% pyrantel tartrate (equivalent to 5.671 grams per pound), NADA 092-150. The products were marketed under the following brand names:

(1) Kaeco Equine Wormer Pellet for Horses and Colts;

(2) Manna Pro Foal & Horse Pelleted Wormer;

(3) Durvet Horse & Colt Wormer, NDC 30796-490-31;

(4) Farnam Pellet Care P Equine Wormer Pellet;

(5) Sportsman's Friend Colt and Horse Wormer.

Recall # V-234-2009
CODE
All lot numbers
RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
Recalling Firm: Virbac AH, Inc, Fort Worth, TX, by e-mail on March 9, 2009 and by letters on April 29, 2009.
Manufacturer: Virbac, Inc, Bridgeton, MO. Firm initiated recall is ongoing.
REASON
Stability failures (subpotent)
VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE
237,708/1-lb. cans
DISTRIBUTION
Missouri, Arizona

While the reason given for the recall is "stability" or that the wormer is not fully potent, it is still not a good idea to use it and the manufacturer would like to know that as many of the sold items are accounted for as possible. They are legally bound to comply with the FDA recall terms.

The FDA Enforcement Report is published weekly by the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services. It contains information on actions taken in connection with agency Regulatory activities.

FBI and State Officials Seek Horses Removed from Quarantine After Testing Positive for Disease in Missouri

The Missouri Department of Agriculture announced on Friday that two quarantined horses that tested positive for equine piroplasmosis are missing from a Raytown, Missouri equine center, located in Jackson County. Equine piroplasmosis is a bloodborne disease only transmitted to horses by ticks and mechanically from animal to animal by contaminated needles. Humans are at no risk of being affected by this disease.

On June 4, the Department of Agriculture was notified of a piroplasmosis-positive horse and immediately took action by placing a quarantine on the Raytown Equine Center; all of the horses at the facility were put on 24-hour surveillance. The quarantine, enacted by the Missouri State Veterinarian, was put in place to prevent movement of any horses from the equine center. Two horses were illegally removed from the premises Wednesday night, when locks were cut from building doors and stalls. These horses are micro-chipped.

The Department is working with local, county and state officials as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation to locate the horses.

Seven horses tested positive for equine piroplasmosis on June 9. Thursday, with consent of the horse's owners, five piroplasmosis-positive horses were euthanized. An equine piroplasmosis-infected horse will show symptoms in mild forms such as weakness and lack of appetite. More acute cases include fever, anemia, jaundice, a swollen abdomen and labored breathing. Horses that survive the acute phase of infection may continue to carry the parasites for long periods of time. There is no cure for equine piroplasmosis.

For more information, please contact the Missouri Department of Agriculture at (573) 751-3377, which supplied the information for this blog post through its Missouri Ag Connection network.

Disease Watch: Equine Piroplasmosis Case in Missouri

by Fran Jurga | 13 June 2009 | The Jurga Report
According to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of United States Department of Agriculture, a horse in Jackson County, Missouri has tested posted for equine piroplasmosis, a tick-borne disease. The affected horse is a seven-year-old Quarter horse gelding purchased six months ago and has been housed on the owner's premises since then. In addition to the affected horse, there are 63 other animals on the property including horses, ponies and mules. A quarantine is in effect.

On June 2, the affected index horse was presented to a veterinary medical hospital in Kansas for acute illness consistent with infection of a blood-borne pathogen. The horse was placed under quarantine and isolation. The following day, laboratory samples were submitted to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL).

On June 6, the Missouri Department of Agriculture issued a written quarantine of the affected premises. A subsequent inspection of the animals and the premises revealed no ticks.

When the tests came back on the horse revealing a positive result for equine piroplasmosis (Theileria equi), plans were made to test additional horses on the premises.

Click here for a USDA document with more information about equine piraplasmosis. You might also like to read about the cases in Florida last year; check the August and September 2008 archives of The Jurga Report by scrolling through the list of archives in the right-hand column of the blog.

Video: A Foal Finds A Stand-in Mom at Vet College Hospital

by Fran Jurga | 14 May 2009 | The Jurga Report

Here's a quick out-take: a goat allows an abandoned foal to nurse at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine. Thanks to the Associated Press and our friends at the British social video site, TrotonTV.com for the heads-up on this clip.

Rabies Alert: Did You Mingle with the Horses at the Missouri State Fair?

We always think that the odds are long that mingling with farm animals and show horses at a fair or at the races will have a health risk, but that is exactly the case in Missouri this week. A young Saddlebred exhibited at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia has tested positive for rabies, and while the likelihood is small that he would have bitten anyone or that any people came into contact with his salivia, a public health alert has been issued.

Here are the facts from the State Department of Health:

The horse originated from Missouri and was a 2-year-old gelding (neutered male horse), bay (dark red, with black mane, tail, and legs). The horse was described as “medium” in size, standing about 15 hands (or 60 inches) at the withers, which is the area near the base of the mane. The horse weighed about 900 pounds. During the fair, the horse was shown in the Saddlebred Show and was stabled in Barn C.

Illness was first noted in the horse on August 17. Over the next day and a half, the horse developed severe neurologic signs and died the morning of August 19. The horse subsequently tested positive for rabies. People directly involved in the care of the horse are being contacted and are being assessed for possible rabies exposure and the need for rabies post-exposure treatment.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is requesting that persons who attended the Missouri State Fair between August 7 and August 9 contact their physician if they possibly had contact with this horse and any of the following occurred during their visit to the fair:

If the individual:

* was bitten by a horse;
* had contamination of a fresh open wound with saliva from a horse; or
* had saliva from a horse come in contact with eyes, nose, mouth or other mucous membranes.

Questions pertaining to human health aspects of this situation may be directed to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services at 573-751-6114. Questions pertaining to animal health may be directed to the Missouri Department of Agriculture, Division of Animal Health at 573-751-3377.