Safety of fluralaner oral solution, a novel systemic antiparasitic treatment for chickens, in laying hens after oral administration via drinking water

Background: Poultry mites are the most significant pest affecting production systems in the egg-laying industry. Fluralaner is a novel systemic insecticide and acaricide that is effective against poultry mites (Dermanyssus gallinae, Ornithonyssus sylviarum) in chickens after oral administration. This study investigated the safety of oral administration of a 1% solution of fluralaner in drinking water to laying hens at the recommended treatment dose and at multiples of this dose. Methods: One hundred-twenty healthy 28-week-old laying hens, weighing 1.4-2.1 kg at first administration, were included in the study, and allocated to 4 treatment groups of 30 hens each receiving daily doses of 0, 0.5, 1.5 and 2. 5 mg fluralaner/kg body weight, equivalent to 0, 1, 3, and 5 times the recommended dose of fluralaner. The product was administered via drinking water on a total of six occasions, as 3-day treatment periods twice with an interval of 4 days with no treatment (treatment on days 1, 2, 3 and 8, 9, 10), representing 3 times the recommended number of administrations. Hens supplied with non-medicated drinking water served as controls. During the study, all hens were clinically observed, and their health was carefully monitored including body weight, food and water consumption, hematology, clinical chemistry, and withdrawal reflex test. Eggs laid over the study were evaluated for main characteristics (e.g. weight, shape, strength, shell thickness and soundness, albumen height, yolk color, Haugh unit and presence of blood and/or meat spots). Following euthanasia of the hens at the end of the second treatment period (day 11) or 18 days later (day 29), complete gross post-mortem examination, including organ weight determination, and histopathological examination of multiple tissues were conducted. Results: There were no clinical findings related to fluralaner treatment. Statistically significant differences between the treated groups and the control group were observed for some clinical pathology parameters; none of these findings were considered to be of clinical nor zootechnical relevance. Organ weights, gross post mortem and histopathological examinations did not reveal any finding associated with treatment with fluralaner. Conclusions: Oral administration of fluralaner via drinking water at the recommended treatment dose (0.5 mg/kg body weight twice at 1-week interval), is well tolerated and has a high safety margin up to an overall dose of 15 times the recommended one (5 times the daily dose given 3 times the number of days) in healthy adult laying hens. Based on the present results, the use of the new mite treatment based on fluralaner administered via drinking water is expected to be safe for laying hens under industrial conditions, and to have no negative impact on their egg quality and production.