Emergency Approval Sought for Tick-Borne Cattle Disease Treatment

R-CALF USA has formally asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine to grant emergency approval for buparvaquone, a drug widely used in other regions of the world, to treat cattle infected with theileriosis. In a letter from Animal Health Committee Chair Dr. Max Thornsberry, the organization warned that theileriosis has been spreading in the United States since the 2017 arrival of its carrier, the invasive Asian longhorned tick. The tick has since been confirmed across the East Coast, the South, and the Midwest.

Thornsberry noted that while veterinarians can use medications to control ticks, there is currently no approved treatment for already infected cattle, leaving producers with few options. He emphasized that buparvaquone is considered safe and effective internationally and that extended slaughter withdrawal times could ensure food safety. R-CALF USA urged swift FDA action, stating that cattle producers face escalating economic and animal-health losses without access to treatment.