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Field trials assessing deltamethrin (Butox®) treatments of sheep against Culicoides species

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Abstract

Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) biting midges may transmit various diseases of economic importance, including bluetongue virus (BTV) and Schmallenberg (SV) virus, which affect ruminants. During the outbreak of BTV in central and northern Europe in 2006, and in the absence of BTV vaccines, many national veterinary services recommended the treatment of susceptible livestock with pyrethroids as a first-line defense against biting midges, although these insecticides were officially not registered and authorized for use against Culicoides midges. The efficacy of Butox® pour on (7.5 mg deltamethrin/mL) against biting midges was therefore evaluated in a double-blinded GCP field trial performed in Brandenburg, Germany. Forty female Merino sheep with an average body weight of 38 kg (±7 kg) were used for the study. Twenty randomly selected sheep were treated with 10 mL Butox® pour on. The remaining 20 sheep were left untreated and served as a control group. Midge collections took place in two separate drop traps covering two crush pens with three confined treated/untreated sheep standing inside, on weekdays at 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 days post treatment. A total of 19,057 midges were collected during this period. Midges were identified as belonging to the subgenus Avaritia, Fox (84.6 %) and subgenus Culicoides, Latreille (15.4 %). A total of 12,031 midges were collected inside the drop trap containing untreated sheep, in comparison to 7,026 midges collected from the vicinity of the treated sheep. Significantly, more midges had fed on control compared to treated sheep with 757 and 103 engorged midges, respectively. The results indicate that treatment of sheep with Butox® pour on provided a significant decrease in Culicoides feeding rates under field conditions for at least 35 days.

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Acknowledgments

The study was funded by Intervet Pharma R&D, 49071 Beaucouzé, France. All activities in this investigation followed the principle of Good Clinical Practices (GCP) as outlined in the “International Cooperation on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for the Registration of Veterinary Medicinal Products (VICH) guideline CVMP/VICH/595/98 VICH Topic GL9 Step 7—Guideline on Good Clinical Practices (CVMP approved July 2000).” We are further indebted to the management of the farm in Groß Kreutz, Brandenburg, Germany, for their cooperation and to Richard Hunter (Triveritas UK) and Peter Cox for their assistance in the design of the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Robert-von-Ostertag-Str. 7-13, 14163, Berlin, Germany

    Wiebke Weiher, Burkhard Bauer, Dieter Mehlitz, Ard M. Nijhof & Peter-Henning Clausen

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  1. Wiebke Weiher
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  2. Burkhard Bauer
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  3. Dieter Mehlitz
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  4. Ard M. Nijhof
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  5. Peter-Henning Clausen
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Correspondence to Peter-Henning Clausen.

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Weiher, W., Bauer, B., Mehlitz, D. et al. Field trials assessing deltamethrin (Butox®) treatments of sheep against Culicoides species. Parasitol Res 113, 2641–2645 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-3916-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-3916-7

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