Anthelmintic Resistance and Associated Management Practices in Local Horses in Sokoto Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

This study was carried out to assess the management practices used in the control of gastrointestinal (GI) nematodes of horses and to determine the efficacy of three anthelmintics commonly used in Sokoto metropolis. A questionnaire was administered on management practices, while an anthelmintic efficacy test was carried out using 15 horses. The 15 horses were divided into three groups (A, B and C) comprising of 5 each and treated with albendazole, ivermectin and fenbendazole, respectively. The faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) was used to determine the efficacy and faecal culture was used to determine the parasite species. Majority of the respondents (80%) claimed to have worm control strategies, but only 32.5% used anthelmintics for the control of GI parasites. 62.5% of respondents designed their deworming plan, while only 25% relied on veterinarians. Most of the treatments were done by the horse owners and/or handlers and they largely depended on visual judgement in dosage determination. Their selection of anthelmintics was based on familiarity and 52.5% of the respondents dewormed their horses six times a year using a particular class of anthelmintic or herbal remedies. Resistance against albendazole as well as suspected resistance against fenbendazole by the GI nematodes identified was observed, while ivermectin demonstrated high efficacy against all nematodes isolated. In conclusion, a single dose of subcutaneous injection of ivermectin was highly effective against gastrointestinal parasites in horses, while the worm control strategies employed by respondents enhanced the selection of nematode resistance to albendazole and fenbendazole.

Feasibility of selective anthelmintic therapy to horses in tropical conditions: the Cuban scenario

“…One theoretic consequence derived from frequent whole-herd deworming is the reduction of parasite population in refugia, and a resulting faster development of anthelmintic resistance (Peregrine et al 2014;Leathwick et al 2019). Nevertheless, cyathostomin populations in tropical areas have been documented to have developed resistance even when exposed to a comparatively low treatment intensity (Kumar et al 2016;Seyoum et al 2017;Mayaki et al 2018;Salas-Romero et al 2018). Computer modeling studies have demonstrated that anthelmintic resistance develops faster in tropical and subtropical areas compared to temperate areas, even after the application of SAT (Nielsen et al 2019;Sauermann et al 2019).…”