Is medicine harmful to fish or pigs?

The scientific analysis in the following article by Associate Prof. Dr. Le Van Tho, Faculty of Animal Husbandry, Nong Lam University of HCMC will help readers better understand this drug.

Because some fish are very active, when they are locked up, they often struggle and cause injuries to themselves and others. Injured fish will be difficult to hold for long, even die, causing damage to business people, especially those with high economic value. Therefore, anesthesia will help avoid risks that often occur during transport.

In order to anesthetize aquatic products, people often use the medicine to immerse them in water, then drop fish, or shrimp that need anesthesia. It should be noted that the fish should not be fed between 12 and 24 hours before anesthesia to ensure that the digestive organs are empty, to avoid fish from being eaten and tired or dead.

What drugs are allowed to use

Anesthetic anesthetics ideal for use in aquaculture must meet requirements such as non-toxic to fish and users, safe to the environment, fast anesthesia effect. The anesthetic must be metabolized or excreted quickly, the time of decomposition is short, leaving no residues or negligible residues in the body's tissues.

Based on the above criteria, the United States and European countries currently only allow the use of Tricaine methanesulphonate (other names such as Metacaine, Tricaine, MS-222, Finquel, TMS) for anesthesia. for fish for human consumption. This is the most widely used drug in the world with high safety for many fish and shrimp species.

The anesthetic after the action will be decomposed, and released into the environment through fish respiration. When the fish is put into a fresh water environment, the anesthetic is exhausted, the fish will gradually return to normal.

In addition, there are some other drugs also used for aquaculture, but only on ornamental fish, such as Aquacalm is the trade name of Metomidate hydrochlorid e, or Transmore . These drugs are usually commonly used and widely sold in ornamental fish trading places around HCMC for anesthesia during transportation or surgical tail-cutting for arowanas. These drugs are not allowed for fish as human food.

Anesthesia for fish.

Not recommended for meat pigs

For cattle, the commonly used sedative is Stresnil, with the main active ingredient being azaperone. It is often used to transport breeding pigs to prevent death or injury during transport. The intramuscular dose is 1.6mg / kg body weight (1ml / 25kg body weight). After a few minutes of injection, pigs will lie on the floor. Therefore, the floor must be wide enough and secured to increase safety.

In recent years, only for breeding pigs with high economic value and small quantity of transport, farms sell new breeds using Stresnil sedative to ensure pigs are not injured, foot pain, and nail pain when transport. As for porkers, it should not be used, but the most effective way of transport is to transport at night when it is cool, not to feed pigs, but to drink water with vitamin C to increase resistance and resistance. Stress for pigs. Because vitamin C is soluble in water, it is quickly removed from the body and no longer exists in meat.

Some sedatives and tranquilizers if used in the right category, right subjects and in accordance with the recommendation about the time to stop the drug before slaughter will be safe for consumers. Conversely, if the drug user intentionally uses the wrong medicine (sedative for ornamental fish to use for fish) or fails to comply with the time of stopping the drug, the residue remains.