Parasites of livestock have major negative economic impacts worldwide; as such, enhanced control of key parasitic diseases would augment farm profitability. However, control has been complicated in recent years through the advent of resistance to commonly used anthelmintic drugs. With the emergence of helminth populations resistant to four of the five major classes of anthelmintic drugs comes the need to develop sustainable control strategies for animal welfare. The first steps in developing future control strategies are; the quantification of the prevalence of resistance within a geographical area, and, investigations on the ways in which such levels of resistance have arisen. The aims of this Thesis were - 1. To investigate the prevalence of Anthelmintic Resistance (AR) in sheep flocks in NI; 2. To examine potential management factors associated with the development of AR; and 3. To attempt to identify non-operational factors which may exacerbate the development of AR. As the levels of AR are most pronounced in small ruminants, the majority of work was undertaken in sheep. Many of the management practices that select for AR in ovine nematodes are conserved between bovine, porcine and avian parasites; as such, data collated in this Thesis will have relevance to all animal enterprises within the Agri-Food industry of NI. Included within this Thesis are - 1. The the results of two Questionnaire surveys which detail the methods used to control gastrointestinal nematode, trematode and cestode species parasitising sheep flocks; 2. The results of three coprological surveys investigating anthelmintic treatment efficacy in controlling nematodiasis, fasciolosis and trichostrongylosis/teladorsagiosis; and, 3. The publications which came about through the completion of the above. All research was carried out in the Parasitology laboratory, Veterinary Sciences Divison, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Stormont, during the years of 2010 - 2013.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:678215 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | McMahon, Connor |
| Publisher | Queen's University Belfast |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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