Residue, distribution and depletion of fluralaner in egg following a single intravenous and transdermal administration in healthy shaver hens: Fluralaner residue in egg

The demand for the use of fluralaner in an extra label manner is increasing due to lack of efficacious treatment to combat mites and bed bugs in the poultry industry in the United States. Fluralaner residue data in eggs is lacking and residues might cause risks to human health. The present study aimed to determine the depletion profiles of fluralaner in eggs and estimate the drug withdrawal interval in whole eggs by adopting the US Food and Drug administration tolerance limit method with single intravenous (0.5 mg/kg) or transdermal administration (average 58.7 mg/kg) in healthy shaver hens. Hens were treated intravenously or trans-dermally with fluralaner. The eggs were collected daily for 28 days for intravenous treated and for 40 days from the transdermal route group. Fluralaner concentrations in yolk and albumen were determined by mass spectrometry. The greater percentage of fluralaner was observed in yolk when compared to the albumen for both administration routes. Non-compartmental analysis was used to calculate the pharmacokinetic parameters in yolk, albumen and whole egg. The longest apparent half-life confirmed in yolk was 3.7 days for intravenous and 14.3 days for the transdermal route. The withdrawal intervals in whole egg for fluralaner following the intravenous and transdermal administration were 7 days and 81 days, respectively, with maximum residue limits (1.3 µg/g) at 13 days and 171 days, respectively, based on the limit of quantification (0.4 µg/g) from the analytical assay reported by EMA and APVMA.