Critical discussion of the current environmental risk assessment (ERA) of veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) in the European Union, considering changes in animal husbandry

Environmental Sciences Europe

Table 2 Proportion of herd or flock treatments for various groups of VMPs of the EMA guideline, with suggestions for an update

Product group	Herd treatment (%)	Recommended actions	Reference(s)^a
Anthelmintics	100	Data collection and update required	[96]
Products for the treatment of diarrhea in calves, lambs, and pigs (excluding products administered in feed and water)	30	–
Coccidiostats	100	Data collection and update required	[97]
Ectoparasiticides	100	Data collection and update required	[98]
Intramammary preparations:
For drying-off	100	Change “100%” to “75%” herd treatment; data collection and update required	[99,100,101]
In lactating animals	25	Data collection and update required	[80,81,82,83]
Antibiotics (feed and water medication)	100	Change “feed and water” to “feed or water”; data collection and update required	[102]
Antibiotics injectable:
All pig treatments	50	Data collection and update required
respiratory infections in cattle	50	Data collection and update required
Foot rot in sheep	100	Change “foot rot in sheep” to “footbath”; data collection and update required	[103,104,105]
		Add: pain medication, the proportion of herd treatment is dependent on the indication (50% for castration or 100% for disbudding in genetic non-hornless herds)	[94, 106]
Teat dip and sprays	100
All products for poultry	100
All products for fish	100

^aActivities or strategies that lead to suggested change of the level of herd treatment