A drug billed as the first federally-approved treatment for coccidiosis in hog herds in Canada is “on track” for release later this fall, the manufacturer reports.
Bayer HealthCare’s animal health division has confirmed its toltrazuril product Baycox 5% now has a notice of compliance from Health Canada and will be available to veterinarians, and to hog producers through their veterinarians, sometime next month at the earliest.
The drug “has helped producers in other countries to raise healthier, more uniform piglets and we are excited that Canadian pork producers will soon be able to access this product,” Bruce Kilmer, director of veterinary services and regulatory affairs for Bayer HealthCare, said in a release.
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Bayer cited a paper presented in July at the International Pig Veterinary Society Congress in Vancouver by Steven McOrist, currently the veterinary research director at the University of Nottingham in England, who studied the use of Baycox on-farm in Romania.
The study of a herd of over 5,000 hogs at a grower-finisher facility found “a significant drop in (coccidia) oocyst count in piglets around weaning in the treated group,” McOrist said.
“There was also a marked improvement in feed conversion in treated weaner-finisher pigs, with weight gains consistently and significantly better through to day 150,” he said, also noting “evidence of a protective effect against a late, moderate Lawsonia (intestinal bacteria) exposure during the study.”
“Coccidiosis prevention is a critical piglet health practice,” Bayer’s Kilmer said, adding that McOrist’s study “further demonstrates the added value that improving gut health can have throughout the swine production system.”
