AN OVERVIEW OF THE CHANGES FOR VETERINARY FEED DIRECTIVE (VFD) DRUG USE & IMPLICATIONS FOR VETERINARIANS, PRODUCERS, & FEED MILLS / FEED DISTRIBUTORS IN THE AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) published a new Final Rule in 2015 detailing the requirements for antimicrobials intended to be used in animal feed under veterinary supervision with a Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD).  A VFD drug is an antimicrobial intended for use in or on animal feed which is limited to use under the professional supervision of a licensed veterinarian.  The feeding of an animal feed containing a VFD antimicrobial must be authorized by a written, lawful VFD.  A written, lawful VFD authorizes a producer to obtain and use animal feed containing a VFD antimicrobial to treat the animals listed on the written VFD in accordance with the VFD drug / feed label.  A VFD is specific to drug, dose, species, indication, animal location, age class, & other limitations that may be placed by the issuing veterinarian.  Deviations from a written VFD are considered to be a violation of federal law.

Aquaflor® was approved as a VFD drug in 2005 with a number of indications for the control of mortality in fish.  The FDA's Final Rule changed several aspects of VFD requirements for obtaining and feeding feeds medicated with Aquaflor.  Some of these changes include amount of medicated feed required calculations, expiration date definition change, possible inclusion of additional information on the VFD by the issuing veterinarian, and completed VFD form distribution changes.

There are 3 participants in the VFD process:  the producer, the veterinarian, and the feed mill or feed distributor.  Each participant has responsibilities to accomplish judicious antimicrobial use and to achieve compliance with the new VFD requirements.  This presentation will review select aspects of each participant's responsibilities in the VFD process as well as highlight the changes to the VFD process by the implementation of the new Final Rule.

The new VFD Final Rule requires veterinary involvement with fish health problems and programs when a medicated feed needs to be used.  Veterinarian, producer, and feed mill/distributor understanding and cooperation will help ensure proper antimicrobial usage which will help optimize antimicrobial performance as well as increase safety for humans and the environment.