Delivery Systems for Wildlife

Delivery remains a key challenge that hinders the successful remote administration of compounds utilized in the management of free-ranging wildlife. Pest wildlife occurs worldwide and management of this group of animals is shifting from lethal control met

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Delivery Systems for Wildlife Arlene McDowell

Abstract Delivery remains a key challenge that hinders the successful remote administration of compounds utilized in the management of free-ranging wildlife. Pest wildlife occurs worldwide and management of this group of animals is shifting from lethal control methods to administration of agents that reduce the fertility of the pest species. Oral delivery of biocontrol agents is the favored route of administration; however, significant hurdles need to be overcome to achieve therapeutic in vivo effects. Regulation requirements for products to control fertility in wildlife are evolving as novel products are being developed. This chapter will outline current strategies for delivery of a number of bioactive compounds to wild animals and includes contemporary research in the field.

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Introduction

Wildlife species encompass a broad range of animals living in similarly diverse habitats. In the broadest sense, wildlife can be defined as non-domesticated, freeranging animals. This chapter will focus on terrestrial, vertebrate wildlife, although it is acknowledged that the need to deliver bioactives to species in aquatic environments is also an area of active research. A group of wild animals that are becoming increasingly important are wildlife pests [1] and this chapter will outline delivery of control agents to pest wildlife.

A. McDowell (*) New Zealand’s National School of Pharmacy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand e-mail: [email protected] M.J. Rathbone and A. McDowell (eds.), Long Acting Animal Health Drug Products: Fundamentals and Applications, Advances in Delivery Science and Technology, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-4439-8_15, © Controlled Release Society 2013

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Wildlife pests can cause environmental damage and have economic impacts when they impinge on production animals or agricultural and forestry practices. Wildlife can also transmit disease to other animals as well as humans e.g., the common brushtail possum is a reservoir for bovine tuberculosis in New Zealand [2] and a range of wild animals including racoons, foxes, and coyotes carry the rabies virus in the United States [3]. It has also been estimated that 60% of emerging infectious human diseases are caused by zoonoses and that 72% of these originate in wildlife [4]. The pandemics of influenza A H1N1 (swine flu) and avian influenza A H5N1 (bird flu) in recent years have brought to the forefront the importance of managing the health of animal populations. The compounds to be delivered to wildlife parallel those used in veterinary medicine for companion animals and livestock and include vaccines, antibiotics, ectoparasiticides, anesthetics, and analgesics as well as fertility control agents. Whilst there is a considerable body of research focused on refining the delivery of therapeutic molecules to humans, livestock, and companion animals, the application of these delivery strategies to a wildlife situation is less advanced. This provides the opportunity for innovation i