Fish: adverse event reports for animal drugs
Species
Read this first. FDA says this about the data:
An API dataset query result cannot be used to estimate the risk associated with the product or compare one drug or device product with another. When looking at the results, be aware that there is no certainty that the reported drug or device caused the adverse event. This dataset should not be the sole source of information for clinical decision-making or other assumptions about the safety or effectiveness of a product. The adverse event may have been related to an underlying disease, other drugs used at the same time or other non-drug related sources.
FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine publishes these words. Source: Adverse Event Reports for Animal Drugs and Devices, read on . The data have the reports that FDA received through .
This page is not veterinary advice. For an animal that is ill, speak to a veterinarian.
Contacting a veterinarianHow to report to FDAFrom May 1989 to July 2025, FDA received 208 adverse event reports about fish for animal drugs. That is under 0.1% of the 1,378,761 reports that FDA received from January 1987 to June 2026.
In the 12 months to June 2026, FDA received 2 reports about fish. The signs that appear in the largest number of the 208 reports are "Death" and "IGA Animal mortality greater than expected". A report is not proof that a drug caused a sign.
Since the last update of the FDA data
The site recorded an update of the FDA data on . No drug page with reports about fish has a different count. Open the update
Drug pages with reports about fish
The table has every drug page with 20 or more reports about fish, in order of name. No count decides which drug is in the table. The table has 2 drug pages.
| Active ingredients | Reports about fish |
|---|---|
| Florfenicol | 67 |
| opAFP-GHc2 rDNA construct | 97 |
The openFDA records give the value "MSK" for the brand name and for the manufacturer name of each drug. FDA says that MSK means "masked". So the site cannot count a report for a brand.
An API dataset query result cannot be used to estimate the risk associated with the product or compare one drug or device product with another.
Commonly used products may have a higher number of reported adverse events due to the higher total number of animals being given the product.
FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine. Source: Adverse Event Reports for Animal Drugs and Devices
Signs that the reports list
A sign is a coded term from the report. The words in brackets are a plain gloss of the term. The percentage is the share of the 208 reports about fish that list the sign.
The sign that is in the largest number of the reports comes first.
- Death54.3%113 reports
- IGA Animal mortality greater than expected19.7%41 reports
- Fish body deformity15.4%32 reports
- Lack of efficacy (bacteria) - NOS[the product did not have the expected effect: target not specified]14.9%31 reports
- Moribund11.5%24 reports
- Death by euthanasia[the animal was euthanized]8.7%18 reports
- IGA Animal morbidity greater than expected8.2%17 reports
- Skin lesion NOS[NOS: not otherwise specified]6.7%14 reports
- Accidental exposure[exposure that was not intended]4.3%9 reports
- Lack of efficacy - NOS[the product did not have the expected effect]3.8%8 reports
- Anorexia[not eating]3.4%7 reports
- Increased mortality rate2.9%6 reports
- Photosensitization2.4%5 reports
- No sign[no clinical sign was reported]1.9%4 reports
Show the next 16 signs
- Sunburn1.9%4 reports
- Skin slough1.4%3 reports
- Depression[dull, quiet or withdrawn]1%2 reports
- Dropsy1%2 reports
- Fungal skin infection NOS[NOS: not otherwise specified]1%2 reports
- Gastric ulcer1%2 reports
- General illness1%2 reports
- Ineffective, other drug(s)[legacy FDA term: the product did not have the expected effect (other drug(s))]1%2 reports
- NT - Abnormal necropsy finding NOS[NOS: not otherwise specified]1%2 reports
- PR-skin, lesion(s)[legacy FDA term: lesions found in the skin]1%2 reports
- Skin hyperaemia[reddened skin]1%2 reports
- Weakness1%2 reports
- Abdominal mass0.5%1 reports
- Abnormal breathing0.5%1 reports
- Abnormal swimming in fish0.5%1 reports
- Anal prolapse0.5%1 reports
Reports by month and by year
FDA says that a report can take 3 to 6 months to reach the public data. The newest months can get more reports in a later update.
| Year | Reports |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 |
| 2024 | 2 |
| 2023 | 11 |
| 2022 | 17 |
| 2021 | 15 |
| 2020 | 18 |
| 2019 | 11 |
| 2018 | 12 |
| 2017 | 20 |
| 2016 | 17 |
| 2015 | 3 |
| 2014 | 9 |
| 2013 | 6 |
| 2012 | 9 |
| 2011 | 1 |
| 2010 | 17 |
| 2009 | 6 |
| 2008 | 6 |
| 2007 | 5 |
| 2006 | 2 |
| 2005 | 5 |
| 2003 | 4 |
| 2002 | 1 |
| 2000 | 4 |
| 1998 | 1 |
| 1997 | 1 |
| 1991 | 2 |
| 1989 | 1 |
What the reports record
Age of the animal
- Under 1 year43.3%90
- 1 to 3 years9.6%20
- 4 to 7 years2.4%5
- 8 to 11 years0.5%1
- 12 years and over1%2
- Age not given43.3%90
Weight of the animal
- Under 5 kg (11 lb)29.3%61
- 5 to 9.9 kg (11 to 22 lb)0%0
- 10 to 24.9 kg (22 to 55 lb)0%0
- 25 to 44.9 kg (55 to 99 lb)0%0
- 45 kg and over (99 lb and over)1.4%3
- Weight not given69.2%144
Outcome at the time of the report
- Reports about fish
- All reports
- Recovered/Normal2.4%5, All reports: 20.7%
- Recovered with Sequela[recovered, with a lasting effect]0%0, All reports: 2.3%
- Ongoing2.9%6, All reports: 17.4%
- Died64.9%135, All reports: 4.9%
- Euthanized22.1%46, All reports: 1.5%
- Outcome Unknown7.2%15, All reports: 22.7%
An outcome in a report is not proof that the drug caused it. The person who sends the report gives the outcome. Each share is of the 208 reports about fish.
Kind of report
- Reports about fish
- All reports
- Safety issue91.8%191, All reports: 64.5%
- Lack of expected effectiveness4.3%9, All reports: 18.9%
- Both safety and lack of expected effectiveness2.4%5, All reports: 4.3%
- Manufacturing or product defect1%2, All reports: 12.2%
- Other0.5%1, All reports: 0.1%
Each share of age, weight and kind is of the 208 reports about fish. The thin bar is the same share in all 1,378,761 reports.
Ingredients, all combinations
The list has every active ingredient with 20 or more reports about fish, in order of name. It has 2 ingredients.
Cite this page
Pet Drug Reports. Fish: adverse event reports for animal drugs. https://petdrugreports.com/species/fish/ Source: FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, openFDA Animal and Veterinary adverse event reports, export of . Reports received through .
Where the data come from
The counts come from the openFDA Animal and Veterinary adverse event files, export of 30 Oct 2026. The files have the reports that the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine received through 26 Jun 2026. The files mask brand and manufacturer names. The site counts a drug by the active ingredients that each record gives, and gives no count to a brand, an application or a company. Ingredient names and the lists of approved products follow the FDA Green Book of 2 Nov 2026.
The site does not publish report text, lot numbers or details of a reporter. FDA's record is the authority. See how the site counts reports, the data sources and the corrections page.
Questions about these reports
- What ages are the fish in the reports?
The figures are shares of the 208 reports about fish received from May 1989 to July 2025. 43.3% give an age of under 1 year. 9.6% give an age of 1 to 3 years. 43.3% give no age.
- How does the count of the latest 12 months compare with the 12 months before?
FDA received 2 reports in the 12 months to June 2026. It received 1 report in the 12 months before. FDA says that a report can take 3 to 6 months to reach the public data. The newest months can get more reports in a later update.
- What kinds of report are in the count?
Of the 208 reports received from May 1989 to July 2025, 91.8% are about a safety issue only. 6.7% are about a lack of expected effectiveness, alone or with a safety issue. 1% are about a defect of the product or its package.
- Do more reports for fish show a higher risk for fish?
No. FDA states this about the data.
An API dataset query result cannot be used to estimate the risk associated with the product or compare one drug or device product with another.
Commonly used products may have a higher number of reported adverse events due to the higher total number of animals being given the product.
FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine. Source: Adverse Event Reports for Animal Drugs and Devices