Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audeince for the FARAD program and associated FARAD websites and electronic databases are veterinarians, especially those involved with treatment and care of food-producing animals, food animal producers, state and federal regulators and individuals involved with food safety. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results have been disseminated through both electronic and print means, including the FARAD website, a new VetGRAM mobile app for android phones, a mobile device-friendly website, and posters presented at national meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Information related to chemical residues in food-producing animals was collected from a variety of resources, analyzed and entered into FARAD databases for on-line access. The major accomplishments bythe University of Florida component of FARAD included the following:(1) continued updating and expansion of electronic information resources that are freely available to veterinarians, producers, regulators and other individuals involved in food animal production industries. These resources include the main FARAD web site (www.farad.org), the Veterinarian’s Guide to Residue Avoidance Management (VetGRAM), a Withdrawal Interval (WDI) lookup tool for published estimates of safe WDI values for extralabel uses of selected drugs in selected species as well as a recently-launched mobile app version of VetGRAM; (2)weekly reviews of Federal Register notices relevantto animal drug regulationsand incorporation of importantchanges in regulations in our searchable USADDS databases, including new drug approvals, changes in approved food animal drug uses, changes in drug residue tolerances and updates in approved drug withdrawal times;and (3) continuedcollaboration with FARAD investigators at UC Davis NCSU and KSU to revise and validate computational estimates for safe withdrawal intervals for drugs that are commonly used off label in food animals. Specific accomplishments included: (1) Revision and Expansion of Electronic Information Resources: Following our major revision and expansion of on-line information resources, usage of these resources has remained at a very high level. Based on usage patterns as determined through Google Analytics (Fig. 1) plus feedback from veterinary practitioners who routinely use our on-line resources, the restructuring of our main web site (www.farad.org) that provided users with direct access to searchable databases has been highly successful. During the nine-month period from June of 2012 through March of 2013, web site visits averaged 489 visitors per week or more than 17,600 total visitors. While the vast majority of visitors originated from the United States (73.6%), the FARAD website was accessed from 124 countries with the largest number of non-U.S. visitors originating from Canada, Philippines, Germany, India and Taiwan.In addition, the re-design of VetGRAM to allow for user-selected searches through the USADDS databases of food-animal drug approvals and regulations has also lead to increased use of this resource. On-line users are now able to search the databases using self-selected criteria, including species and animal use class, drug classification, therapeutic use indication, route of administration or other selected search strategies. The search engine allows veterinarians to quickly identify those drugs that are best suited to each individual animal and to obtain the most up-to-date regulations regarding use of those agents in food animals. In conjunction with these revisions in VetGRAM, tha UF component of FARAD worked to develop and recently launched a free mobile app version of VetGRAM that is designed to work on phones and mobile devices that use the Android operating system. It is too early to know what level of usage or the nature of improvements that will be needed to support and update this new mobile app. (2) Continued Updates of FARAD Databases with Relevant Regulatory Information: Every week, the UF component of FARAD conducted detailed reviews of the Federal Register to extract the latest information pertaining to drug approvals in food animal species, both major (cattle, pigs, turkeys and chickens) and minor (goats, sheep, game birds, bison, etc.) species. This process of information extraction and database updateswas performedthroughout the duration of the project in order to maintain the accuracy and currency of our on-line database resources. Usage statistics for our on-line resources indicates a continued and high volume of use of FARAD resources, which reflects the high confidence among practitioners and other users in the accuracy and completeness of our databases. Critical changes are announced through our on-line news updates and are also sent to followers via Twitter. (3) Expansion and Validation ofComputational Estimates for Inclusion in On-Line WDI Lookup Tool: The UF component of FARAD developed and launched the WDI Lookup Tool several years ago as a way to provide drug withdrawal interval recommendations for selected approved drugs that are commonly used in an extra-label manner that may involve a different route of administration, altered dose regimen, or some other variance from approved label instructions. Usage of this on-line resource has grown remarkably and we continue to expand this database. In collaboration with the other FARAD sites, wedeveloped and used physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models and population-based modeling to develop and validate better estimates for drug residue depletion rates in major and minor food animal species.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The primary outputs for the University of Florida component of FARAD for this year included: (1) complete re-design and expansion of information services that are made freely available in various electronic formats, including the main FARAD web site, the VetGRAM (Veterinarian's Guide to Residue Avoidance Management) web site and the on-line drug Withdrawal Interval (WDI) lookup tool; (2) on-going updates of searchable databases with relevant information continue to perform weekly reviews of Federal Register notices related to animal drug regulations and to incorporate relevant changes in regulations in our searchable databases, including new drug approvals, changes in approved food animal drug uses, changes in drug residue tolerances and updates in approved drug withdrawal times; and (3) continue to collaborate with FARAD investigators at UC Davis NCSU and KSU to develop and validate computational estimates of a safe withdrawal intervals for drugs that are commonly used off label in food animals. 1) Re-Design and Expansion of Information Resources: During the report period, UF undertook a major revision and expansion of on-line information resources in order to meet the changing needs of food-animal veterinarians, livestock producers and others who routinely use our resources. Once completed, users will be able to search the databases using self-selected criteria, including species and animal use class, drug classification, therapeutic use indication, route of administration or other selected search strategies. In conjunction with these revisions in VetGRAM, UF investigators have been working with a third-party vendor to develop a mobile phone application that will provide all of the capabilities offered through VetGRAM. We anticipate initial launch of this mobile app product in late 2012 or early 2013. 2) Continued Updates of FARAD Databases with Relevant Regulatory Information: Every week, UF workers conduct detailed reviews of the Federal Register to extract the latest information pertaining to drug approvals in food animal species, both major (cattle, pigs, turkeys and chickens) and minor (goats, sheep, game birds, bison, etc.) species. This process of information extraction and database updates will be continued throughout the upcoming year in order to maintain the accuracy and currency of our on-line database resources. Usage statistics for our on-line resources demonstrate the heavy and growing use of FARAD resources, which reflects the high confidence among practitioners and other users in the accuracy of our databases. 3) Expand and Validate Computational Estimates for Inclusion in On-Line WDI Lookup Tool: The UF component of FARAD developed and launched the WDI Lookup Tool almost two years ago as a way to provide drug withdrawal interval recommendations for several approved drugs that are commonly used in an extra-label manner (different route of administration, dose regimen, etc.) in food animals. Usage of this on-line resource has grown remarkably and we continue to expand this database. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Based on usage patterns and feedback from veterinary practitioners who routinely use our resources (more than 10,000 hits per year), our main web site (www.farad.org), has been re-structured to provide direct access to the most frequently used resources. In addition, VetGRAM (www.farad.org/vetgram/Search.asp) is being redesigned to allow for user-selected searches through our databases of food-animal drug approvals and regulations. Usage statistics for our on-line resources demonstrate the heavy and growing use of FARAD resources, which reflects the high confidence among practitioners and other users in the accuracy of our databases. The launch of our mobile-device friendly version of VetGRAM has resulted in more than 200 users per week (average) during the initial trial period. Additional tools that are approaching final release will further increase use of our electronic resources by veterinarians, producers and government regulators. It is impossible to quantify measures of the impact of these resources on the incidence of violative chemical residues in various animal-derived human foods, but the likely impact is substantial. In the absence of funding of these activities by the US Department of Agriculture, these programmatic outcomes would not have been achieved.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: FARAD is a USDA-sponsored program that is a collaborative research and extension program overseen by faculty in veterinary medicine at North Carolina State University, University of California-Davis and the University of Florida. This program is an important component of the national effort to maintain a residue-free food supply for the American public. FARAD focuses on residues derived from veterinary drugs, agricultural chemicals or environmental contaminants. Since it is possible that acts of agro-terrorism could target food animals, expertise within FARAD would be key to mitigation of human exposure risks. FARAD operates to identify, extract, assemble, evaluate and distribute reviewed information about residue avoidance and mitigation to people involved in residue avoidance programs throughout the United States. The types of information available through FARAD include basic veterinary drug registration information, withdrawal times, indications for use, as well as unique technical information about the pharmacokinetics and toxicokinetics of drugs and chemicals in food animals. With implementation of cooperating international residue programs through Global FARAD (gFARAD), those data are also available for evaluation and dissemination. Under the broad umbrella of chemical food safety, FARAD fulfills several unique and specific roles, including: (1) providing an essential service to veterinarians involved in the treatment and care of major food‐producing animals. As one of the requirements for legal extra‐label drug use in a food- animal species, the Animal Drug Use Clarification Act (AMDUCA) mandates that a veterinarian must "establish a substantially extended withdrawal period prior to marketing of milk, meat, eggs, or other edible products supported by appropriate scientific information." FARAD is the only source for this required withdrawal information and provides scientifically-derived recommendations as a free service to food-service veterinarians. (2) serving as a centralized source of comprehensive pharmacokinetic information for numerous toxicants that present a significant risk exposure for food animals, including pesticides, agrochemicals, industrial chemicals and other harmful agents. During the past two years, FARAD has provided crucial advice in cases involving food animal toxicant exposures at the domestic level (e.g., cattle exposures to natural gas fracking water in Pennsylvania) as well as internationally, such as food animal exposure to radionuclides during the Japanese Fukushima reactor tragedy. Each toxicant exposure case is unique and requires thorough researching, evaluation and analysis of available data by our team of pharmacokineticists and veterinary toxicologists. (3) providing the only source for food safety information and drug withdrawal times for many minor food animal species, including sheep, goats, elk, ducks, pheasants, rabbits, salmon, cod, catfish, tilapia, lobster, shrimp and other minor-use species. These industries comprise an integral component of the nation's food supply and contribute to the overall diversification of our agricultural base. PARTICIPANTS: Not relevant to this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Output measures of extension-related progress through the FARAD program are best measured by data related to the use of FARAD's Regional Access Center (calls and emails) as well as use of information resources on the FARAD web site. During the past 12 months, FARAD Regional Access Call Centers have handled approximately 1200 inquiries or an average of 3.3 calls per day. With respect to these calls, it is important to note (1) the reasons for calls are very diverse and range from the ORDINARY REQUESTS for drug withdrawal recommendations related to extra‐label drug use or accidental drug overdoses to the EXTRAORDINARY REQUESTS, which include incidents of cattle being exposed to frac water. In many cases, producers need to know how long to hold the animals before slaughter. In these cases, time is money but safety is the top concern for everyone involved. the number of animals involved with each call can be quite substantial. Recently, we started requesting information from callers in order to obtain an estimate of the numbers of animals impacted by these cases. Although these estimates are likely to be low (for example, entries for herds are frequently reported as 1 animal), we estimate that 1200 calls correspond to more than 6 million individual animals per year. Since July of 2010, on-line use of FARAD Web Resources, the FARAD home page (http://www.farad.org/) has received more than 6,800 visits or an average of more than 22 visitors per day. More than 92% of the visits are from North American locations. Regular users often bypass the FARAD home page and go directly to the VetGRAM at a rate of more than 9 per day. More than 96% of the visitors to VetGRAM were from US locations. In late 2010, a searchable database of published Withdrawal Intervals (WDI) for drugs used extra‐label was created and placed on our web site. This WDI look up tool was created with the intent to reduce the significant number of calls that involved previously published WDI recommendations. Since the launch of the WDI lookup tool, that site has been visited by 1304 individuals (average of more than 28 per day), with 99 visitors making multiple visits. More than 90% of the visitors to the WDI lookup were from locations in the U.S.
Publications
- The research component of FARAD is evidenced by the following peer-reviewed publications: Young G, Smith GW., Tell., LA.., Leavens TL., Wetzlich SE., Mason SE., Baynes RE. (2010). Pharmacokinetics of tulathromycin following subcutaneous administration in meat goats. Res. Vet Sci. doi:10.1016/j.rvsc.2010.06.025 Mason SE, Baynes RE., Almond GW, and Scheidt AB. (2011). Stability and Bioactivity of Tetracycline Water Medication in Swine Production Units. J. Swine .Health Prod (in press) McPhee, C., Anderson, KL., Barlow, B., Yeatts., J., Mason, SE., and Baynes, RE. (2011). Milk and plasma disposition following intramammary administration of a phytoceutical mastitis treatment. J. Dairy. Sci. 94(4): 1738-1743.
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