The study objective was to evaluate the effects of vaccination (respiratory and clostridial vaccination or no vaccination) and deworming (fenbendazole and levamisole or no deworming) of high risk stocker calves on-arrival on health and growth performance. Eighty sale barn origin calves were purchased three separate years (n=240) from local order buyer. Steers (n=61) and bulls (n=179) were received over three days (d -3 to -1). On d 0 calves were stratified by arrival BW and FEC into 20 pens of 4 calves each, and treatment was applied to pens in 2 x 2 factorial. Vaccination increased the likelihood of BRD 1.7 times (P=0.07) versus calves not vaccinated. Vaccination did not affect gain, but calves receiving dewormer had greater ADG than those not receiving dewormer. Calves that arrived uncastrated or with high fever (≥40.0°C) gained less and were 1.7 and 4.3 times more likely (P<0.10) to be treated for disease, respectively.

Most horse owners administer oral deworming medication to their horses on a set schedule, often six times per year. The deworming process involves using a plastic syringe to inject a thick paste into the horse's mouth. Most horse owners do not specifically train their horses to accept this procedure. Consequently, many horses resist the procedure and some horses engage in behaviors, such as head shaking, pulling away, or even rearing, that may be dangerous to humans or to themselves. This study used a negative reinforcement shaping procedure to train six horses to accept dewormer medication. The procedure consisted of a food sampling phase followed by three shaping phases that simulated the deworming task, first using only the experimenter's hand, then a small syringe, and finally a large syringe. Once the horse was acclimated to the syringe, the horse's preferred liquid food was delivered through the syringe at the end of each trial. By the end of the study, all participants successfully completed the procedure and were able to stand still with no or minimal head movements while being dewormed.

Anthelmintic resistance of parasites infecting livestock animals is a global problem resulting in decreased animal welfare and production losses. Horses are not exempt from this issue as wide-spread anthelmintic resistance exists among the equine cyathostomins and Parascaris spp. Of the three drug classes available for treating equine intestinal helminths anthelmintic resistance, defined as less than 90-95% drug efficacy, exist to all three. New pharmaceutical control regimens and the elucidation of parasite drug response mechanisms are needed. Two studies were carried out evaluating combination deworming regimens. A population of cyathostomins with known resistance to the benzimidazole (BZ) and pyrimidine drug classes maintained in a herd of Shetland ponies was used. Fecal egg counts were performed every two weeks and used to evaluate drug efficacy. The first study evaluated the combination of a BZ and pyrimidine drug for four consecutive treatments, and compared the individual drug efficacies before and after combination use. The first combination treatment exhibited an additive effect at 76.6%, but the subsequent three combination treatments decreased to approximately 40%. There was no significant difference between the initial and final efficacies of individual drugs (BZ, p=0.4421; pyrimidine, p=0.8361). It appears the combination treatment selected for double-drug resistant adult parasites. The timeframe of this study (1 year) and the one year lifespan of adult cyathostomins prevented observations of combination treatment on subsequent generations, however given the sustainability of resistance in this cyathostomin population, it seems unlikely efficacy would improve over time. The second study examined the combination of a BZ drug with a macrocyclic lactone (ML) drug. This parasite population was 100% naïve to the ML drug class. This study was carried out in a similar manner to the first, except only two combination treatments were given. ML exhibited 100% efficacy when it was used alone, or in combination. The initial and final BZ efficacy did not significantly differ (p=0.9890). In summary, the results described herein do not support the use of combination treatments where resistance is prevalent, but more long term studies are needed to fully understand the long-term effects on subsequent generations. The in vitro maintenance of Parascaris spp. provides opportunity for various molecular analyses. An objective motility scoring assessment allowed for continuous monitoring of worm viability. In this study, several saline solutions, nutrient supplements, environmental conditions, and Roswell-Park Memorial Institute medium 1640 (RPMI-1640) were evaluated for the longevity and viability of adult Parascaris spp. Overall, RPMI-1640 resulted in better longevity (168 hours) and significantly better viability (pParascaris spp. to in vitro drug exposure. Oxibendazole at 10 µg/mL for 24 hours and ivermectin at 1 µg/mL for three hours were employed, and worms were used for transcriptomic analyses to identify drug response mechanisms. The top four genes which were significantly different between drug treated and control groups were: cyp4504C1, sup-9, frmd4a, and klhdc10. It is hypothesized that cyp4504C1 and klhdc10 are drug detox mechanisms, while sup-9 and frmd4a may be indirect response related to the drug effects. Their expression was further evaluated using quantitative RT-PCR, however there was no significant difference in any gene expression between groups. It should be noted that there are several limitations associated with the qPCR method, and the lack of significance should not rule out the possible involvement of these genes and more research on drug response mechanisms is needed. In summary, there is very little research regarding combination deworming in horses, and their current use is largely due to some success for ruminant parasites, but the current work summarized herein does not support their use. Finally, until now the lack of in vitro methods for equine helminths has significantly delayed the elucidation of drug response mechanisms. This was the first whole-transcriptome approach for any ascarid parasite and uncovered proteins with possible involvement in drug metabolism or compensate for the toxic effects Overall, the research surrounding anthelmintic resistance in livestock helminths, particularly in horses, is lacking and the resistance crisis demands further investigation.

Tyrimo tikslas - nustatyti dviejų profilaktinio dehelmintizavimo programų efektyvumą šunų užsikrėtimui zoonotiniais ir kitais virškinamojo trakto helmintais Lietuvos kaimuose, naudojant kombinuotą antihelmintiką (prazikvantelis, pirantelis, febantelis). Baigiamojo darbo rengimo laikotarpis truko nuo 2011 m. iki 2013 m., dehelmentizuotų ir kontrolinių šunų užsikrėtimas buvo tiriamas 5-ių mėnesių laikotarpyje, nuo 2013-05 iki 2013-09. Visi tiriamieji šunys atsitiktinės atrankos būdu buvo suskirstyti į tris grupes. Pirma šunų grupė buvo dehelmintizuota vieną kartą, antra – du kartus su trijų mėnesių pertrauka (2 dehelmintizacijos), o kontrolinės grupės šunys buvo nedehelmentizuojami. Šunų užsikrėtimui virškinimo trakto helmintais nustatyti, kartą per mėnesį buvo tiriamos jų išmatos. Išmatos buvo renkamos nuo žemės prie šuns būdos arba iš aptvaro, kuriame šuo buvo laikomas. Šunų užsikrėtimui virškinimo trakto helmintais nustatyti, išmatų mėginiai buvo tiriami flotacijos metodu su cinko chloridu ir mikroskopuojami. Toxocara kiaušinėlių rūšiai nustatyti, jie buvo matuojami. Išmatų mėginiai, kuriuose buvo rasta Taeniidae kiaušinėlių, buvo nuosekliai praplaunami per neiloninį tinklelį (Mathis et al., 1996) ir surenkami vėliasniems molekuliniams tyrimams. Tyrimo metu buvo nustatyta, kad dažniausiai šunys buvo užsikrėtę Taeniidae cestodais (2,8%), Toxocara nematodais (2,8%), Uncinaria nematodais (5%) ir C. aerophilus (3,9%). Taikant kombinuotą antihelmintiką (prazikvantelis, pirantelis... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim - of the study was to determine the efficiency of two preventive deworming programs on gastrointestinal helminth infection in Lithuanian village dogs, using a combination of anthelmintics (praziquantel, pyrantel and febantel). The performed during - five month period, from 2013-05 to 2013-09. All dogs were randomly divided into three groups. The first group of dogs was dewormed once, a second - twice every three months (2 dewormings), and dogs in control group were not treated. The feces were examined once a month to determine the presence of gastrointestinal helminth infection. Feces were collected from the ground to dog kennels or enclosure in which the dog was kept. The fecal samples were examined by flotation method using zinc chloride flotation fluid and examined microscopically. Toxocara eggs were measured to determine the species. Fecal samples with Taeniidae eggs were washed sequentially through nylon mesh (Mathis et al., 1996) and eggs were isolated for further molecular differentiation. It was found that 2,8% of dogs were infected with cestodes Taeniidae, 2,8% with Toxocara nematodes, 5% with Uncinaria nematodes and 3,9% with C. aerophilus. The treatment with combination of anthelmintics (praziquantel, pyrantel, febantel) was effective reducing infection with Taeniidae cestodes and Toxocara nematodes (since 2,8% to 0,9% and 0%), Uncinaria nematodes (since 5% to 1,8%), C. aerophilus nematodes (since 3,9% to 1%). Deworming program was similarly effective and... [to full text]

Neglected tropical diseases are parasitic and bacterial diseases mainly prevalent in developing countries affecting people living in poverty. The World Health Organization’s human rights-based approach emphasizes the “prevention, control, elimination and eradication of neglected tropical diseases” through the use of preventative chemotherapy, such as the mass administration of deworming drugs to improve people’s health.This research paper will take a deeper look at how WHO has been communicating NTDs to make them less ‘neglected’ and how the NTD discourse has been shaping development organizations’ action. In addition, it aims to investigate how successful mass deworming has really been in terms of the recent debate.This study is using a combination of a discourse analysis and qualitative interviews in order to investigate how the NTD discourse and recent initiatives by international organizations have contributed to making NTDs less neglected. It deconstructs representations of the ‘Other’ – the superiority of the ‘West’ over the ‘Rest’ – in relation to the NTD discourse and its inherent power structures. Discourses are analyzed to identify power relations between governments, development organizations, pharmaceutical industries, and recipients of deworming drugs as part of Kenya’s 2013 deworming campaign.The results showed that the NTD discourse has helped raise awareness for NTDs. NTDs and their debilitating effect on populations have been better and more widely communicated, making them less ‘neglected’. WHO and other development organizations’ actions have contributed to making NTDs more visible and have given NTDs higher priority on the global health agenda. Findings from this research study revealed that the ongoing debate has not had a negative impact on international funding. More research and development of a vaccine against NTDs is needed to find more ways to tackle these devastating diseases.

Abstract It is estimated that about 22% of all births in Pakistan are low birth weight (&lt;2500g), representing approximately 198,000 births per year. One of the major causes of low birth weight is maternal anemia. In Pakistan approximately 52% of pregnant women are anemic and one of the most common cause of maternal anemia is soil-transmitted helminthic infection. Soil-transmitted helminthiasis is endemic in Pakistan carries the highest burden of infection in Eastern Mediterranean region. Despite the recommendations deworming the mother during pregnancy is not being commonly practiced in routine antenatal care. We hypothesized that there is an association between deworming during pregnancy and low birth weight. For this study, cross sectional analysis of secondary data from the latest Pakistan Demographic Health Survey (PDHS conducted in 2017-18 and released in 2019) was done. Total N=1403 mother and child were included, logistic regression was used to determine the association between deworming during pregnancy and low birth weight after adjusting for potential confounders.  We found no statistically significant association [aOR 0.63, 95% CI (0.21-1.83)] between deworming during pregnancy and low birth weight. Moreover the mothers who belonged to higher socioeconomic status [aOR 0.41, 95% CI (0.22- .76)] and attained higher education [aOR 0.55, 95% CI (0.34- .87)] had reduced odds of having a new born with low birth weight compared to newborn of the women from low socioeconomic status and had no education, respectively. Further research is needed to explore effectiveness of deworming during pregnancy at population level.