Efficacy of a morantel-abamectin combination for the treatment of resistant ascarids in foals.

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to investigate the efficacy of a morantel-abamectin combination for the treatment of macrocyclic lactone (ML)-resistant Parascaris spp. infections in foals. METHODS: Foals on five properties with a Parascaris faecal egg count (FEC) > 50 eggs per gram were used to estimate the FEC reduction (FECR) and efficacy of the anthelmintic combination. RESULTS & CONCLUSION: On all properties, resistance to ivermectin and abamectin was present and the Parascaris FECR in foals administered the morantel-abamectin combination was > 99%, indicating that this combination effectively controlled ML-resistant parasites.

Evaluation of broad-spectrum anthelmintic activity in a novel assay against Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongylus colubriformis and T. sigmodontis in the gerbil Meriones unguiculatus.

The gerbil Meriones unguiculatus, infected with three species of nematodes, each located in a separate part of the gastrointestinal tract, provided a reliable laboratory assay for the evaluation of broad-spectrum anthelmintic activity. Gerbils harbouring 6-day-old infections of Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongylus colubriformis and T. sigmodontis were given selected broad-spectrum anthelmintics by gavage. Three benzimidazoles, thiabendazole, oxfendazole and albendazole, a tetrahydropyrimidine, morantel, an imidazothiazole, levamisole hydrochloride, a macrocyclic lactone, ivermectin and an experimental natural product, paraherquamide, were active against all three nematodes at various dosages. Trichostrongylus colubriformis was most sensitive to levamisole hydrochloride, morantel, thiabendazole and paraherquamide whereas ivermectin, oxfendazole and albendazole were more effective against H. contortus. All compounds were active against the caecal nematode T. sigmodontis although it was less sensitive than T. colubriformis. Haemonchus contortus was more sensitive than T. sigmodontis to all anthelmintics tested except thiabendazole.

Gastrointestinal and pulmonary nematode infections decrease goat productivity in Moroccan semi-arid conditions.

A herd of goats naturally infected with lungworm and gastrointestinal nematodes was divided into three groups and treated with either morantel tartrate or fenbendazole at strategic periods, i.e. in June (at pre-mating), in November (at pre-kidding) and in January (at early lactation) or left untreated. Morantel tartrate treatment (8 mg kg-1) was efficient in reducing the gastrointestinal nematode egg output and fenbendazole treatment (15 mg kg-1) was efficient in reducing the gastrointestinal nematode egg and small lungworm larvae faecal output. Reductions in mortality of adult goats and their progeny and improvement of rearing percentages were recorded in both treated groups, with fenbendazole showing a greater response than morantel tartrate. A relative risk analysis showed that mortality in goats and kids was significantly reduced in treated kids and goats. Reduction of 6.6% in kidding rates, 0.21 in prolificacy, and an increase of 1.3 in abortion rates, 8.3% in kid and 2.2% in goat mortalities, could be attributable to the small lungworm infection. Small lungworm infections seem therefore to be one of the main causes of indirect kid mortality and inadequate breeding performance of goats in the semi-arid Middle Atlas region of Morocco.

Efficacy of moxidectin and other anthelmintics against small strongyles in horses.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of moxidectin to ivermectin, oxibendazole and morantel against some gastrointestinal nematodes in horses. DESIGN: Faecal egg count reduction after treatment. PROCEDURE: A farm was selected where the population of small strongyles in horses was known to be resistant to oxibendazole. Horses were allocated to treatment groups based on faecal egg counts. After treatment, faecal samples were taken up to 109 days after treatment and faecal egg counts estimated. Faecal cultures were used to estimate the contribution of small and large strongyles to the faecal egg counts at each sampling. RESULTS: Moxidectin (0.4 mg/kg) suppressed faecal egg counts for 109 days after treatment in most horses compared to 40 days with ivermectin (0.2 mg/kg), 13 days with morantel (9.4 mg/kg) and less than 13 days with oxibendazole (10 mg/kg). Most of the faecal egg count was attributable to small strongyles based on faecal culture, although Strongylus vulgaris was present in some samples in low numbers. Oxibendazole resistance in small strongyles was confirmed and a less than expected efficacy of morantel was also seen. CONCLUSION: Moxidectin was highly effective in reducing faecal egg counts after treatment for at least 12 weeks and up to 16 weeks in most horses. These horses were infected with a population of small strongyles known to be resistant to oxibendazole and possibly morantel. The duration of the reduction in faecal egg counts after treatment with moxidectin (0.4 mg/kg) was at least twice that of ivermectin (0.2 mg/kg) and greater than four times that for morantel and oxibendazole.

Efficacy of morantel sustained release trilaminate bolus against gastrointestinal nematodes in grazing dairy calves in Kenya.

The efficacy of morantel sustained release trilaminate (MSRT) bolus against gastrointestinal nematodes was evaluated under field conditions over a 10-month period. Twenty weaner calves were randomly divided into 2 groups of 10 calves each and grazed from March to December on adjacent, similarly contaminated paddocks. Group 1 calves (T-1) served as untreated controls while group 2 calves (T-2) were dosed at turnout with MSRT bolus designed to release morantel tartrate continuously for 90 days. The efficacy of MSRT was assessed by comparison of parasitological data (faecal worm egg counts, herbage larval counts, worm counts from tracer calves and set-stocked trial calves, determination of haematological parameters and pepsinogen levels), weight gains and clinical status of the animals. Faecal egg counts from the treated group (T-2) were reduced by 100% (P < 0.001) following treatment and remained significantly (P < 0.05) lower than counts from T-1 calves up to trial termination. The use of MSRT bolus resulted in a reduction of 92% (P < 0.001) in the number of gastrointestinal nematodes in set-stocked calves at the end of the study and a 55 to 85.7% reduction in herbage larval infectivity as reflected in lowered parasite burdens in tracer calves. At the trial termination, the control calves had gained on average (+/- s.d.) 59.4 +/- 4.8 kg (200.0 +/- 7.4 g day-1) and the treated ones on an average 128.6 +/- 10.5 kg (530.0 +/- 13.1 g day-1).

Fumarate reductase: a target for therapeutic intervention against Helicobacter pylori.

The potential of fumarate reductase as a therapeutic target against the human pathogen Helicobacter pylori was investigated by studying the cytotoxicity of morantel, oxantel, and thiabendazole, known to inhibit the enzyme in parasitic worms. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was employed to investigate the effects of the inhibitors on the fumarate reductase activity of laboratory-adapted and wild-type bacterial strains. Production of succinate from fumarate in H. pylori cells was inhibited by morantel, oxantel, and thiabendazole. Cell growth and viability techniques were used to examine the bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects of the three anthelmintics. Each of the antiparasites arrested growth and produced cell death in liquid cultures, although the minimal inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations of these compounds are such that they would not be of therapeutic use. The strength of the effects as measured by minimal inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations was oxantel > thiabendazole > morantel. The findings suggested that fumarate reductase is an essential component of the metabolism of H. pylori and as such constitutes a possible target for therapeutic intervention in the treatment of the bacterium.

A comparison of early and mid grazing season suppressive anthelmintic treatments for first year grazing calves and their effects on natural and experimental infection during the second year.

A comparison was made of the efficacy and parasitological sequelae over 2 years, of continuous and intermittent periods of anthelmintic suppression applied both early and in the middle of the first grazing season of calves. Five groups of 15 calves grazing separate paddocks within the same field were allotted to one of the following treatment regimes during their first year at grass: Group 1, untreated controls; Group 2, treated with ivermectin injections at 3, 8 and 13 weeks after turnout; Group 3, treated with ivermectin injections at 10, 15 and 20 weeks after turnout; Group 4, treated with a morantel slow release intraruminal bolus at turnout; Group 5, treated with a morantel slow release bolus at 10 weeks after turnout. Five animals from each group were slaughtered at the end of both grazing seasons. Two months after the end of the second season the remaining five calves were challenged with an experimental infection of 250,000 third-stage larvae (L3) of both Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora. All treatment regimes protected the respective calves from parasitic gastroenteritis. Over the 2 year observation period Groups 2 and 4 showed significantly better weight gain than other groups, and at the end of the first season, they were found to harbour significantly fewer O. ostertagi in the early fourth stage of development. During Year 1, Groups 2 and 3 excreted much lower percentages of Ostertagia spp. eggs than other groups. In Year 2, Group 2 excreted a higher percentage of Ostertagia spp. eggs although the total egg output was approximately half that of Group 1 during the same period. The results showed that the effects of anthelmintic suppression on egg output of different nematode species was affected by the activity of the anthelmintic used.

Overberg research projects. XVI. First-stage larval reduction test versus the controlled anthelmintic test to assess the efficacy of anthelmintics against nematode parasites of sheep.

Results of a first-stage larval reduction test (L1RT) were compared with those of a controlled anthelmintic test (CAT) done on naturally infected sheep which grazed on spray-irrigated grass/legume pastures at Tygerhoek Experimental Farm near Riviersonderend in the southern Cape Province. The 3 anthelmintics used were morantel, ivermectin and levamisole. According to the L1RT, treatments reduced the geometric means of Strongyloides by 74.2 to 95.2% and those of the adults of all the other genera (Haemonchus, Nematodirus, Oesophagostomum, Teladorsagia, Trichostrongylus and Trichuris) by 99.4 to 99.75%. By contrast the results of the CAT were more variable, placing the reliability of the L1RT in doubt. In addition, the CAT could also evaluate the effect against fourth larval stage Teladorsagia.

Prophylaxis of bovine trichostrongylidosis in the alpine region: effect of pasture contamination on infections in calves receiving a morantel sustained-release trilaminate bolus in mid-July.

In the alpine region, mixed grazing systems with cattle of different age, origin and prophylaxis against trichostrongylid infections are most common. Under these conditions the administration of anthelmintic devices to susceptible calves is frequently postponed to June or July to achieve a better protection during the period of increased pasture infectivity in summer and autumn. In a field experiment with 27 first-year grazing calves a morantel sustained-release trilaminate bolus (MSRT, Pfizer) was given to two groups (Groups A and B) of nine naturally infected calves each, on 22 July. Calves of Group B were moved to a clean pasture (B) 1 day later, whereas the calves of Group A remained on the previous pasture (A) together with nine untreated calves (Group C). The contamination with infective larvae (L3) on Pasture A remained below 1000 L3 kg-1 dry matter, which was sufficient to produce clinical parasitic gastroenteritis in five of nine control calves. The MSRT bolus reduced the mean egg output by more than 90% within 14 days after administration and prevented clinical parasitic gastroenteritis in the calves of Groups A and B. Owing to the persisting infection risk on Pasture A, the mean serum pepsinogen levels reached about 3000 mU tyrosine in the calves of Group A in September compared with approximately 2000 mU in Group B grazing the clean pasture. However, the differences in pasture contamination were not reflected in the mean bodyweight of the calves, which were 20 kg heavier at the end of the trial in both MSRT-treated groups compared with the control calves (P < 0.01). As there is a high probability that a moderate larval contamination is present on prealpine and alpine community pastures in summer, the metaphylactic use of an MSRT bolus in mid-July is likely to limit trichostrongylid infections within a subclinical range and thus provides sufficient protection of susceptible calves against parasitic gastroenteritis.

Activity of morantel citrate against strains of benzimidazole-resistant nematodes of sheep in the United Kingdom.

The activity of morantel citrate (5.94 mg/kg base) was determined in laboratory tests against field isolates of benzimidazole-resistant nematodes. Its efficacies against adult and seven-day-old worms were 100 per cent and 100 per cent for Cooperia curticei, 95.1 per cent and 69.8 per cent for Haemonchus contortus and 100 per cent and 82 per cent for Ostertagia circumcincta. Morantel citrate was 100 per cent effective against benzimidazole-susceptible Nematodirus battus and Trichostrongylus vitrinus, and it reduced faecal egg counts by 97.9 per cent in sheep infected naturally with benzimidazole-resistant H contortus and O circumcincta.

Epidemiology of trichostrongylidosis in cattle: development of infective larvae in the second part of the grazing period and their contribution to infections in the same year.

A grazing experiment was performed in the Swiss midland region with 22 first-season calves which were grazed together from May to mid July when they were allocated to two equal groups, one receiving a morantel sustained-release trilaminate bolus (Paratect Flex) bolus, Pfizer, Zurich, Switzerland) and the other one remaining as an untreated control. Each group was moved to a clean pasture on 21 July. The larval contamination on the pasture with the control animals reached 4652 third stage larvae (L3) per kilogram of dry matter (L3 kg-1 DM) after 10 weeks. Parasitic gastroenteritis was observed in two calves of the control group in August, and mean serum pepsinogen levels exceeded 4000 mU tyrosine in this group in September. Eggs from Ostertagia sp. and Cooperia sp. that were excreted by the animals at the beginning of July and the end of August showed similar hatching rates of 94% and 99%, respectively. In the calves of the bolus group the egg output was reduced by 95% within 14 days of administration of the bolus. Larval contamination on the pasture of the bolus group was zero until the beginning of September when a slight increase occurred, reaching 793 L3 kg-1 DM in October. At the end of the trial the bolus-treated calves had a mean weight gain advantage of 18 kg (P < 0.05) compared with the controls. The results confirm that a second generation of larvae developed on pasture in August and September and caused parasitic gastroenteritis in first-year grazing calves in late summer. The relevance of the results for the prophylaxis of parasitic gastroenteritis in calves in mixed grazing systems with calves and older cattle is discussed.

Sequential in vivo measurements of body composition of calves exposed to natural infection with gastrointestinal nematodes.

Sequential in vivo measurements of total body water, exchangeable sodium and exchangeable potassium, made by radioisotopic dilution techniques, were used to determine changes in body composition in calves exposed to natural infections with gastrointestinal nematodes during their first grazing season. Two groups of calves were studied, one of which received a sustained release anthelmintic bolus at turn out. Over the grazing season the bolus-treated calves showed a significantly improved pattern of bodyweight gain, compared with the untreated control calves. There were also significant increases in both total body water and exchangeable potassium, as a percentage of the bodyweight, in the bolus calves compared with the controls. These findings indicated that body protein as a percentage of bodyweight was increased in the bolus animals. The bolus-treated calves also had significantly lower serum pepsinogen concentrations, faecal egg counts and worm burdens.

Efficacy of the morantel sustained release trilaminate bolus against gastrointestinal nematodes and its influence on immunity in calves.

An experiment was conducted in calves to investigate the efficacy of a morantel sustained release trilaminate bolus (MSRT) to control gastrointestinal parasitism and to assess the development of immunity during the use of MSRT. Two groups (M and U) of four calves each were infected three times a week with a mixed Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora infection for 12 weeks. Calves of Group M received an MSRT at the start of the experiment. Twenty weeks after the start of the experiment, all animals, including a previously uninfected control group (C), received a challenge with 100,000 Ostertagia and 100,000 Cooperia. After a further 4 weeks all calves were necropsied for worm counts. During the trial calves were weighed and faecal egg counts, larval differentiation and pepsinogen concentrations were determined. The results demonstrated the high level of efficacy of the MSRT in reducing the faecal egg output and preventing parasitic gastroenteritis under conditions of a continuous high rate of infection. Efficacy of treatment was higher for Cooperia than for Ostertagia. Post-mortem worm counts suggested a partially impaired immunity build-up in Group M, at least for Cooperia.

A new anthelmintic assay using rats infected with Trichostrongylus colubriformis.

A new anthelmintic assay is described which uses immunosuppressed (60 ppm hydrocortisone acetate in diet) rats infected with the nematode Trichostrongylus colubriformis. Immunosuppressed rats were infected with 1500 T. colubriformis larvae, treated either orally or subcutaneously on Day 14 post-infection and necropsied 4 days after treatment. The worm counts in immunosuppressed control animals averaged 775 worms per rat. A range of benzimidazoles, levamisole hydrochloride, morantel tartrate, 22,23-dihydroavermectin B1a and alpha-milbemycin have been evaluated in the assay. The ED95 values obtained indicate that rats infected with T. colubriformis provide a highly predictive model for assaying the activity of experimental drugs in vivo prior to studies in ruminants.

[Control of gastrointestinal strongylids in first year calves: use of Paratect Flex bolus at late pasture turnout]. / Bekämpfung von Magen-Darm-Strongyliden bei erstsömmrigen Kälbern: Einsatz des Paratect Flex-Bolus bei spätem Weideaustrieb.

The efficacy of the Paratect Flex-Bolus for the control of parasitic gastroenteritis in calves was evaluated in a field experiment in the Swiss midland region. The bolus was administered to 9 first year grazing calves at 4 to 5 months of age before turnout on June 26 while 9 calves remained as untreated controls. Both groups were rotated between 8 paddocks that had been pregrazed by older cattle in spring. For a period of 12 weeks the faecal egg output of the treated calves was reduced significantly (p < 0.05) compared to the controls, whereas no significant differences were observed in the mean serum pepsinogen values of both groups. At the end of the experiment (November 14) the bolus-treated calves showed a 4 kg weight gain advantage over the controls which was not significant. The mild infection levels in both groups were probably due to the low pasture contamination with infective larvae throughout the season which most likely resulted from the late turnout of the calves. An outbreak of dictyocaulosis was observed in both groups in October and confirmed that the Paratect Flex-Bolus provides insufficient protection against this infection.

Effect of sustained release and pulse release anthelmintic intraruminal devices on development of pathophysiological changes and parasite populations in calves infected with Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora.

An experiment was conducted in calves to investigate the effect of sustained release and pulse release anthelmintic intraruminal boli on the development of pathophysiological changes following daily infection with Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora for six weeks. After infection various pathophysiological changes were detected including increases in serum pepsinogen concentration, enteric plasma protein losses and in the catabolic rate of albumin. Such changes developed rapidly in the unprotected calves following patency after 17 days and persisted until the termination of the study. There were indications that the sustained anthelmintic release device was more efficacious than the pulse anthelmintic release device in reducing the worm burdens and early pathophysiological changes associated with infection. It was found at necropsy that the release of anthelmintic by the oxfendazole pulse release bolus had been delayed in several calves.