From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2004-01-19 18:03:26 UTC
Subject: RE: Information request
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <4189287.1074535406648.JavaMail.root@indium.smartgroups.com>
I have read the Australian report on the Fipronil/Frontline review at
http://www.nra.gov.au/chemrev/fipronil.pdf mentioned to me in a pers. com. from a member.
In reading it several things will jump out at you. First is that Fipronil has been used for ten years in a wide range of things: agricultural uses, home ant and cockroach baits, meds for domestic species, etc. Second is that the rate of adverse reactions to Fipronil is less than 1 every 10,000 uses. The third is that the majority of those reactions are skin irritation among those who handle it a lot: groomers, vets, etc.
The thing that will make you sit up is the mention of the dogs BUT notice that it reads funny. It doesn't read as if they are blaming the compound, and -- gee -- isn't "Paralysis Tick" an interesting name, and notice that they keep noting that these ticks were commonly found on these dogs and that Fipronil is not effective against these ticks. So, the next step is to read up on this tick type. Here is a great place to start:
http://www.shoal.net.au/~rwylie/tick.html
and there is also a write-up on Paralysis Ticks/Poison Ticks ( Ixodes holocyclus which is normally found in only part of Australia but has been encountered in other parts after it hitched a ride on nursery plants) in John Lewington's _Ferret Husbandry, Medicine & Surgery_ where the ascending paralysis in dogs is noted and that it presents like botulism in ferrets.
Then read the last part and notice that any possible outcome of a hearing into a med is mentioned, so look at reviews of other products. Okay, so it turns out that those parts are basic form for any review. The reread with this information under your belt and you will notice that what is being said appears to be that they are deciding if there is relabeling needed to emphasize more strongly that if Ixodes holocyclus is present that Fiprinil should not be the medicine of choice because it doesn't work against this tick and the neurological damage the tick causes will progress as it would without treatment, and also to emphasize that on rare occasion skin irritation can occur among those who use it regularly. That's just my take on it after reading beyond that one report.