New tool helps vets report pesticide-related illness

Schaumburg, Ill.

-- DVMs should report pesticide incidents involving animals to a new veterinarians-only website.

Created by the National Pesticide Information Center, the site will be used to gather data for the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pesticide Programs.

It is expected that reports received from veterinarians will help to better characterize the incident reports presently received by the EPA.

The site can only be accessed through a link on the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) website (www.avma.org) under the Animal Health Section by clicking on "Adverse event reporting."

Developed by the NPIC with input from the AVMA Clinical Practitioners Advisory Committee and the AVMA Council on Biologic and Therapeutic Agents, the form is meant to capture the optimal amount of relevant information and is quick for practitioners to fill out.

Data will be evaluated by the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pesticide Programs and be provided to the AVMA.