A circular has been issued by Commissioner FDCA, Gujarat State, which has been published by IDMA Bulletin of October 7, 2004 on the above subject.
The circular states that vultures have been dying on a big scale due to diclofenac poisoning. Diclofenac injection is widely used in cattle and other animals as an effective anti-inflammatory and pain relieving medication. When such animals die vultures attack the carcasses of these animals and the residual diclofenac from these dead animal tissues causes widespread lethal renal failure in vultures. In this manner 95% of the population of vultures has been destroyed in India in the last 10 years. For this reason diclofenac injection manufacturers have been requested to stop the manufacture of diclofenac injection.
In another notification in IDMA Bulletin of May 7, 2005, the Ministry of Environment and Forest (Wildlife Division) has requested manufacturers of diclofenac veterinary formulations to suggest a plan of action to achieve balance between the conservation issue and the health requirements of human and cattle. Incidentally in The Times of India of Aug 11, 2005 news was appeared on diclofenac-vulture-issue. It was also appeared in The Times of India & Sun. 9. 4. 06. In the above connection, the following points are raised and should be taken into consideration.
Diclofenac injection in strength 25 mg/ml has been used extensively in all animals and particularly cattle for a very long time. The recommended dose is 10-12 ml per large animal (average body weight of 400 kg and above. So per large animal: 10-12 ml of 25 mg/ml diclofenac injection = 250 to 300 mg per 400 kg body wt
Assuming:
About 10% of dose is lost in urine
Visceral tissues of cattle form about 10% of body wt. = 40 kg
Average body weight of an adult vulture is about 5 kg
Therefore,
40 kg will carry about 250 mg of residual diclofenac = approx. 6 mg/kg of visceral tissue,
If a vulture consumes around 1 kg of visceral tissue and receives an average of 6 mg of diclofenac, which is 1.2 mg/kg body weight of a vulture.
It may sound absurd that a large bird like vulture receives just 6 mg of diclofenac and develops lethal renal failure. It is opined that 6 mg vulture or 1.2 mg/kg of its body weight would normally not be so highly toxic to the vultures unless these animals have a proven very specific and high intolerance to such minutes quantity of diclofenac. If other birds such as crows also attack a dead animal, there is no report about any toxicity to them.
If dead animal bodies are left along the roadside to be scavenged by vultures it appears to be a very unhealthy and uncivilized practice. Besides, very few of them would have received diclofenac injection before death.
Dead cattle should not be allowed to be left for disposal in this manner, but should be disposed off like dead bodies in slaughter houses. Besides, skins are removed for tanning and bones form the source of gelatine.
Local municipal or civic authorities should be guided for proper disposal of carcasses by local health authorities.
Carcasses lying near Airports, which eventually become targets of vultures and other birds have posed serious bird-hit problems to aircrafts and airport authorities are required to ensure that no dead animals lie around to avoid this nuisance.
Diclofenac injections presumably substandard are available in the market at a throwaway price. It is highly improbable that any genuine manufacturer of diclofenac injection could afford to sell the product so cheap.
It should be checked by the concerned state FDA officials, if cheap diclofenac injections available in the market are really genuine. The tendency on the part of veterinarians to administer higher dose of particularly cheaply available diclofenac injection should be strongly discouraged. This will avoid excessive residual diclofenac in the animal which dies.
Very few of diclofenac injection receiving cattle end up in immediate death. These animals may die of other overlapping diseases and not necessarily due to inflammation or pain alone. Healthy cattle are not so susceptible to an infectious disease. These are not stray animals. If they are well sheltered when alive, carcasses must not be thrown to vultures.
Some dead cattle bodies may get or be highly infected by deadly pathogens or viruses, which may easily pass on to vultures.
Diclofenac injection is very effective remedy in animals particularly cattle. Other small/large animals are very effectively treated with diclofenac injection. Alternate NSAIDS to be considered are:
a. Nimesulide Inj. (100 mg/ml)
Available in markets expensive no widely investigated for effectiveness in animals course regime not fully established.
b. Aceclofenac Inj. (50 mg/ml)
No injection yet available in the market, either human or veterinary, has not been worket out at all.
c. Meloxicam Inj. (5 mg/ml)
Available in the market but expensive, not very widely worked out and used.
d. Piroxicam Inj. (20 mg/ml)
Vet. Inj. not available, expensive, not investigated in animals.
e. Ketoprofen Inj. (100 mg/ml).
Conclusion
Considering above points it is suggested that:
1. Diclofenac injection in animals (cattle) may not be the sole cause of the problem.
2. Disposal method of dead animals to be improved. Animal lovers to take action.
3. Fake manufacturing of cheap diclofenac to be tracked down and action to be taken.
4. Veterinarians to use only recommended dose per animal of a genuine product.
5. International scenario of diclofenac injection in cattle and any possible vulture problem may be investigated. If vultures are becoming extinct world-wide, many other countries must have faced such problem and possibly diclofenac injection vet might have been banned by many other countries. This information must be complied and interpreted before coming to any final conclusion.
(The author is a technical consultant for pharmaceuticals and foods)