Federal authorities have provided additional guidance for veterinarians on how to electronically send Veterinary Feed Directive drug orders.

New animal drugs approved as Veterinary Feed Directive drugs are administered under veterinarians' orders for use in animal feed. They include some antimicrobials federal authorities have decided should have veterinarian involvement to avoid unnecessary use and to delay or prevent development of antimicrobial resistance.

The Food and Drug Administration updated the Veterinary Feed Directive guidance to include information on the option of sending online images of scanned paper orders or electronically generated orders.

The guidance clarifies that, when a compliant system is used to generate and transmit an order with an authorized electronic signature, there is no need to follow up with a hand-signed, original order.

The guide also explains how veterinarians can comply with regulations related to electronic signatures.

The Guidance for Industry #120 is available at www.fda.gov/cvm. Click on the link for "Guidance Documents" near the top of the screen and scroll down to 120.