Month: August 2010

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you thought bad resistance (to BPW) was only in the New England?? (a report from Gulgong, central NSW)

Today is your lucky day: three WormMails in one day.

District Vets (LHPAs) from time to time share interesting cases with me.

For example, the ewe in the Forbes district full of lung worm (Dictyocaulus) and scour worms (Worm egg count (WEC) = 2920 eggs per gram faeces (EPG); no Haemonchus seen in the abomasum on necropsy. (Nik Cronin, Forbes).

More alarming is this case from Gulgong, in the Central North LHPA.  

(If you are not familiar with New South Wales, consult this map.  (You may need to zoom in). Gulgong is near Mudgee, northwest of Sydney, and on the southern boundary of the ‘WormKill’ zone).

Dr David Gardiner, District Veterinarian for the Central North LHPA located at Mudgee, has been investigating worm problems on a sheep property near Gulgong.

WormTesting indicates the problem worms are barber’s pole worm (BPW; Haemonchus contortus), black scour worm (Trichostrongylus) and small brown stomach worm (Ostertagia (Teladorsagia) circumcincta). At various times there are high BPW counts and clinical signs of haemonchosis.

A DrenchTest (faecal worm egg count reduction test) in February gave these results (% reduction in egg counts):

Ivermectin (IVM): 33%

Closantel: 68%

Benzimidazole (BZ) / Levamisole (LEV): 100%

Moxidectin: 90%

IVM/BZ/LEV:  100%

LEV (double dose): 100%

Untreated controls: mean WEC =  6384 (100% BPW).

The 100% results for BZ/LEV and for IVM/BZ/LEV might be largely due to the LEV component. Closantel at one third of the dose used here (the recommended dose) should be ~ 100% effective against BPW. Moxidectin, the most potent of the MLs available for sheep in AUS, only managed a 90% FECR.

Larval culture results raised the suspicion of Trichostronglyus and/or Ostertagia resistance to LEV and BZ as well.

One might not be surprised any more by this result in the New England region (northern NSW) or north coast, but it is somewhat more alarming in the Gulgong-Mudgee district further to the south.

SL

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Regional launch meetings (Australia) – Zolvix (monepantel)

(TO: WormMail, QAAH-L, DV, Sheep lists.  Recip. undisclosed. Apologies for list overlap)

Further to my recent mail, a high powered executive in Novartis has just given me permission to pass this on to you.

The first new anthelmintic in ~ 25 years: it should be interesting. A long time between drinks: perhaps we should sip rather than gulp.

Regards

SL

( I have converted this to the older ‘.xls’ format, for those of you who don’t have the file converter or, like me, don’t have the latest version of MS Office)