Further indication of lowered activity of ivermectin on immature small strongyles in the intestinal lumen of horses on a farm in Central Kentucky

Abstract

Critical tests were performed in 2011 in four weanling horses (L-1, L-2, L-29, and L-30) treated with ivermectin paste at 200 μg/kg. They were born in 2011 and raised together on a farm (MC) in Central Kentucky. The horses had not been treated previously with an antiparasitic drug. However, ivermectin had been administered repeatedly to the horse herd for several years and strongyle eggs per gram of feces (EPGs) returned sooner posttreatment than after initial usage. Critical tests in a recent previous study in this horse herd indicated that the reason for the early return of strongyle EPGs after ivermectin treatment probably was because of lowered drug activity on immature (L₄) small strongyles in the lumen of the large intestine. Therefore, the life cycle was shortened. The main purpose of the present study was to obtain further data on the activity of ivermectin on small strongyle immature stages, in addition to adults, in the intestinal lumen. Twelve species of small strongyles were present. Combined data for immature and adult small strongyles for the four ivermectin-treated horses demonstrated efficacy of 68 to 83 %. Removal of adults was 100 % for all four horses, and on immatures, it ranged from 0 to 16 %. Efficacy on immature small strongyles was even lower than in the previous study. This supported the earlier finding of apparent reduced time for maturation of the parasites because of incomplete elimination of immature small strongyles in the intestinal lumen of horses after ivermectin treatment. Data on five other helminth species were recorded.