Treatment and Anthelmintic Resistance - A Few Facts
It is only necessary to treat horses with a worm burden.
Using anthelmintics (wormers - strictly speaking de-wormers) to treat horses with low counts will speed up the development of drug resistance.
Parasitic resistance to all classes of anthelmintics is a growing worldwide problem and once resistance has occured it cannot be reversed. It is inevitable that widespread resistance will occur - it is a case of when and not if. As no new de-wormers are likely to come onto the market in the foreseeable future it is important to preserve the efficacy of the drugs we do have. It takes about ten years to research, develop, trial and bring to the market new drugs thus further emphasizing the need to use anthelmintics wisely.
Giving the correct dosage of de-wormer is important as under-dosing is a high risk factor in the development of drug resistance. The treatment values of wormers varies greatly from sufficient product to treat a 575kg horse to 800 kg animal.
Using anthelmintics (wormers - strictly speaking de-wormers) to treat horses with low counts will speed up the development of drug resistance.
Parasitic resistance to all classes of anthelmintics is a growing worldwide problem and once resistance has occured it cannot be reversed. It is inevitable that widespread resistance will occur - it is a case of when and not if. As no new de-wormers are likely to come onto the market in the foreseeable future it is important to preserve the efficacy of the drugs we do have. It takes about ten years to research, develop, trial and bring to the market new drugs thus further emphasizing the need to use anthelmintics wisely.
Giving the correct dosage of de-wormer is important as under-dosing is a high risk factor in the development of drug resistance. The treatment values of wormers varies greatly from sufficient product to treat a 575kg horse to 800 kg animal.
Faecal Egg Counts (Worm Egg Counts)
