"Relentless". A good word, I always thought. Not a great word, though. That was up until 
   September 30th 1998 when I saw what relentless actually meant in real life. I was walking 
   along the seafront in Greystones (Co. Wicklow to the uninitiated) in the middle of a 
   medium to good tropical storm (or at least it seemed like one to me), when I reached the 
   pier. A solid enough piece, nothing to beat concrete. Yessirree. Pour it in there. Thousands 
   of tons of the stuff, maybe even millions. Who knows? reinforced as well, probably. Throw 
   in a few thousand tons of good Wicklow granite, in front of it for good measure, Yep, when 
   they built that pier it was for posterity. There to stay. But on September the 30th 1998, as I 
   sat in the wind and the spray, I began to wonder, Okay, so I didn't see chunks of concrete 
   falling into the sea, but the feeling that somehow, some day, the sea would come tolling 
   majestically unopposed into the shore was inescapable. That constant, tireless pounding, 
   day after day, year after year. Relentless, that's what it was.  

   I see it used elsewhere here in relation to brucellosis in the Irish cattle herd. Seen in that 
   light it concentrates the mind somewhat.  

   I feel it every month when Rory Culliton rings to know where the 801-disant Editors 
   "comment" has disappeared to. Pressure. Relentless.  

   So what has all this to do with anything. Well, in an effort to improve my monthly 
   ramblings, I have been perusing sundry other publications of a similar ilk to try and find a 
   thread of consistency, some common goal, and sure enough, there it was, without fail every 
   single one of these epistles had it. A message for their readers. If it was a football 
   magazine, lo and behold .... A football message; A gardening magazine - almost invariably a 
   floral message. And so it went Relentless. Message after message after ---- you get the 
   picture.  

   So I made a decision. No message simple. And there you have it. A fairly gentle ramble 
   through a few moments of nothingness that crossed my mind on a windy day in Greystones. 

   By the by, word is that POM(E) as a living, breathing entity is beginning to take shape. 
   Like I said at the start relentless.  

   Regards  

   Ian McGirr, MPSI,  

   Carnew.  

   ************  

   PRODUCT CATEGORIES  

   The Irish Medicines Board have agreed to advise Pharmachem members of changes in 
   Product categories.  

   *************  

   Business Development Managers  

   The current crisis in the farming industry is having widespread repercussions. Many 
   members have had a very quiet period over the Summer In the meantime the committee 
   has been active in pursuit of POM(E).  

   The immediate focus is to open the category up and get some products into it. We are very 
   pleased that we have at this time the support of the companies (APHA), the farming 
   organisations (IFA, ICMSA and the dry stock farmers) and the Co-op's (ICOS) We hope 
   to have some products up for consideration in November when the relevant committee of 
   the Irish Medicines Board meet.  

   There was a move to designate injectable copper and calcium borogluconate as POM's but 
   it has been successfully resisted.  

   There is excellent goodwill at organisational level from the farmers organisations for 
   pharmacy. Our role in keeping competition in the industry is bieng appreciated and we 
   need to convert that to the individual farmer.  

   *************  

   ANTHELMINTIC BOLUS PRODUCTS  

   Anthelmintic Bolus products provide the farmer with a very effective method of internal 
   parasite control in the form of a single treatment. Over the past number of years, the 
   pharmacovigilance system operated by the Irish Medicines Board identified the fact that a 
   number of animals died each year following the incorrect administration of anthelmintic 
   bolus products.  

   At the request of the Medicines Board several programmes were put in place to minimise 
   the number of deaths associated with the use of anthelmintic bolus products. A brochure 
   was produced highlighting the precautions that need to be taken to ensure that the bolus is 
   used successfully. Particular emphasis was placed on the need to ensure that the animal 
   met with the minimum weight and age requirements and that the animal was ruminating. 
   This brochure was distributed directly to every licensed merchant in the country by the 
   companies and APHA and also directly to farmers by the companies. The other strands of 
   the programme consisted of on-farm demonstrations and videos of correct use of 
   anthelmintic bolus products by companies.  

   Finally, the fourth strand of the communications package included the supply of information 
   about the communications campaign to the agricultural media. The objective was to ensure 
   that as many articles as possible would be written in the agricultural media with the 
   intention of again getting the messages regarding safe use across to the farming 
   community.  

   The number of animals dying following the inappropriate use of anthelmintic boluses was 
   running at 5-6 per 20,000 during 1996 and 1997. The rate has dropped to 3 per 20,000 in 
   1998.  

   On foot of the decrease in the adverse reaction rate, the Medicines Board has indicated to 
   the industry that anthelmintic bolus products will remain available through the LM route 
   but has requested the companies to repeat its communication during 1999. In order to 
   maximise media coverage of the campaign, the Medicines Board has offered to write 
   article stressing the points that need to be considered in ensuring the safe use of 
   anthelmintic bolus products.  

   On analysis of adverse reactions, it is clear that the major causes of reactions result from 
   the administration of anthelmintic bolus products to animals that are below the minimum 
   weight. Particular emphasis will be placed, in the communication campaign, to highlight the 
   fact that animals below a certain weight should not be treated with anthelmintic bolus 
   products.  

   *************  

   PHARMACHEM GOLFER OF THE YEAR 1998  

   Brendan Feeney, Longford was named Pharmchem Golfer of the Year 1998 at the recent 
   outing in Ballyneety.  

   **************  

   Article published in Irish Farmers Journal September 1998  

   ONLY VACCINES TO HALT BRUCELLOSIS  

   Only the vaccination of at risk herds will stop the relentless return of brucellosis in the 
   Irish cattle herd, Prof. Brendan Cunningham warned this week. He is the man whose 
   approach routed brucellosis last time around.  

   The former UCD professor warned that the brucellosis test is not pickingup some carriers 
   of the disease. Last time round this was leaving latent infection, especially in the bigger 
   herds, which led to breakdowns two years later. This time around, herd size has increased, 
   thus increasing the risk of diseas spread from this source.  

   He said that in the 1980's the policy of testing and culling on its own was fairly successful in 
   the smaller herds of the north-west, but failed in the south of the country. However, when 
   vaccination of at risk herds was introduced in the 1980's the disease in the south fell 
   dramatically, from 33 to 16 percent in the first year.  

   ***********  

   Pharmachem planner Draw  

   The winner of the Autumn prize was  

   Mr. Tim Kiely  

   Tubber, Ballyday, Millstreet, Co. Cork,  

   Planner supplied by Reens Pharmacy, Millstreet, Co. Cork.  

   ************  

   APHA 3 day course for Licensed Merchant outlets  

   A number of courses are scheduled around the country between now and the end of the 
   year.  

   VENUE 1998 DATE  

   Mallow 6,7, and 8 October  

   Naas 20,21 and 22 October  

   Bundoran 3,4 and 5 November  

   Athenry 11, 12 and 13 November  

   ********  

   RINGWORM IN CATTLE  

   Ringworm is an infectious fungal disease of great economic importance. Infection has been 
   observed to reduce liveweight gain by 13kg before it self resolves in 2-3 months. 
   Treatment using griseofulvin has been highly effective of late but this now has to change as 
   griseofulvin will cease to be available once current stocks are exhausted. Mycophyt 
   powder (Intervet) and Imaverol wash (Janssen) can be used for treatment, but the only 
   prevention available is a new vaccine from Boehringer Ingelheim called Insol 
   Trichophyton. Vaccination consists of 2 intramuscular injections 14 days appart (2.5ml each 
   if <70kg, 5ml if >70kg). Insol Trichophyton can also be used as a treatment during an 
   outbreak (same regime as prevention) with infections resolving 4 weeks after vaccination.  

   Treatments for ringworm  

   Insol Trichophyton 100ml &pound;33.00  

   Imaverol concentrate 100ml &pound;6.14  

   Mycophyt powder 10G &pound;16.24  

   Mycophyt powder 2G &pound;6.51  

   Koppertox aerosol 140G &pound;4.23  

   **************  

   Our Man at the dogs  

   Packie Reilly from Kilnaleck, renowned expert on the dogs, reports that a dog that did not 
   finish in the first three in the Pharmachem special event in Limerick was recently sold for 
   &pound;15,000. A pity that is not of use to those of us who backed him  

   **************