Gastrointestinal nematodes pose a threat to animal health and affect farmers by negatively impacting farm management.

Gastrointestinal parasites are some of the most common pathogens which are seriously harmful to the camel’s health. The infection status of gastrointestinal parasites in camels (Camelus bactrianus) in the Tianshan Mountains pastoral area in China is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the species and infection intensity of gastrointestinal tract parasites in local camels. A total of 362 fresh faecal samples were collected and examined for parasite eggs using the saturated saline floating and natural sedimentation method. The parasite eggs were subjected to morphological and molecular examination and identification, and the infection rate and mean intensity of the parasites were analysed. A total of 15 gastrointestinal tract parasite species’ eggs were identified, with a detection rate of 100%. Ostertagia spp. (100%) and Trichostrongylus spp. (98.1%) were dominant. Camels were often coinfected by 5–14 species. The average number of eggs per gram of faeces was higher for Ostertagia spp. (298), Haemonchus contortus (176) and Nematodirus spp. (138). The number of species of parasites infecting young camels was significantly lower than that of adult camels, but the infection intensity in young camels was significantly higher. Gastrointestinal parasites were highly prevalent in camels from the Tianshan Mountains pastoral area in China. This finding provides important epidemiological data for the prevention and control of associated infections in camels.

Goats are highly susceptible to endoparasitic infections due to free grazing habits. The present study was reported for concurrent infection ofMoniezia expansa and Haemonchus contortus in two goats from a flock of 40 goats in Orathanadu, Thanjavur. History included anorexia, foetid diarrhoea and jowl edema in goats. On clinical examination, pyrexia, pale conjunctival mucous membrane, pasty diarrhoeic faeces, bottle jaw and abdominal thudding were noticed. Coproscopy revealed Moniezia expansa eggs and strongyle eggs and faecal culture revealed Haemonchus contortus larvae. Uneventful recovery was noticed in goats after treating with praziquantel and fenbendazole for 3 days with supportive therapy.

The impact of nematode parasitism of the digestive tract on milk output and milk quality was examined in dairy goats. In addition, the consequences of worm infection were compared in goats with different lactation performance (ie, with initial high or low milk production). Forty-eight goats in the second month of lactation were allotted equally to 2 groups. The first group was given 5,000 Haemonchus contortus and 20,000 Trichostrongylus colubriformis larvae. The 24 additional goats remained free of parasites. Parasitologic, serologic, and milk data were collected every 2 weeks for 5 months, and body condition of the goats was scored throughout the study. Results of strongyle egg count in feces, increase in pepsinogen values, and reduction in RBC count, PCV, and serum inorganic phosphate concentration indicated subclinical infection, This subclinical parasitism induced a decrease in body condition scoring and led to persistent decrease in milk yield, ranging from 2.5 to 10% reduction from control values. Changes in fat and protein contents were not detected. In contrast, the consequences of infection were more severe in the 6 goats with the highest milk production at the start of the study. Decrease in milk output ranged between 13.0 to 25.1%, and was associated with decrease in fat content. Comparison of the response to parasitism in the 6 goats with the highest lactation performance and the 6 goats with the lowest performance indicated differences be- tween both subgroups. According to parasitologic and pathologic data, high-producer goats had less resistance and/or resilience to infection associated with more severe consequences on milk production.

Ten controlled tests were done between 1972 and 1989, in lambs on pasture, evaluating activity of fenbendazole (FBZ; 5 mg/kg of body weight), oxfendazole (OFZ; 3.5 and 10 mg/kg), oxibendazole (OBZ; 10 mg/kg), pyrantel pamoate (PRT; 25 mg of base/kg), and thiabendazole (TBZ; 44 and 50 mg/kg) against natural infections of helminths, with emphasis on 2 strains (A and B) of Haemonchus contortus. Strain A was phenothiazine-susceptible and strain B was phenothiazine-resistant when isolated in 1955. For approximately 10 years prior to these tests, sheep infected with both strains had been treated periodically each year with several compounds, including thiabendazole, which was used many more times than the other drugs. For this study, 4 (FBZ, OFZ, OBZ, and PRT) of the 5 compounds were evaluated in either 1 or 2 controlled tests. The fifth compound, TBZ, was used for 5 tests. Strain A H contortus was resistant to TBZ for all years tested, but more susceptible to FBZ, OFZ, OBZ, and PRT. Overall, strain B was susceptible to TBZ (with a few exceptions), and also to FBZ, OFZ, OBZ (activity less on immature forms), and PRT. Other abomasal parasites (2 species of Ostertagia and 3 of Trichostrongylus) were found in low numbers, but removal overall was good for the compounds tested. Trichostrongylus axei, found in higher numbers than species of Ostertagia and other species of Trichostrongylus, were effectively removed by all compounds in most cases. Activities of TBZ and PRT were also evaluated against several species of intestinal helminths, most of which were found in low numbers. Cooperia curticei were inconsistently removed by TBZ, but activity of PRT was effective. Both compounds were active on mature Nematodirus spathiger, but TBZ had variable activity on immature forms. Strongyloides papillosus were effectively removed by TBZ. Other parasites found in lower numbers than the aforementioned 3 species were Capillaria spp, Trichuris spp, and Oesophagostomum columbianum; removal was variable for both drugs.

Parasitic nematode infection in animal is one of the main causes for the mortality of animals and most of the treatment relies on the use of the anthelmintic drugs to overcome such a problem. However, the heavy use of anthelmintic contributed to the problem of multidrug resistance. This study was carried out to investigate the infectiveness of Punica granatum (aqueous leaf and peel extracts) as an alternative treatment. This study utilised the in-vitro assay technique (motility assayand larval migration inhibition assay) to determine the effect of the extracts on the survival of L3 stage of parasitic nematodes.The results showed that incubation of L3 in different concentrations (5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 mg/ml) of extracts paralysed and killed the worms after 24 hours and 48 hours ofincubation periods. The same results were obtained from larval migration inhibition assay, showing that both extracts of Punicagranatum inhibited the migration of the L3. After 2 hours of incubation in the leaf extract (5 mg/ml), the migration of nematode larvae was inhibited to 56±12.29% as compared tothe control. While for the peel extract the percentage of migration was reduced to 53 ±3.33%. Further reduction of the migration was observed at 10, 20 and 50 mg/ml of leaf extract.

The nematode, Haemonchus contortus, is responsible for major economic losses in the livestock industry. The management of parasites such as H. contortus has been through the use of synthetic parasiticides. This has resulted in the presence of residues in meat and milk, which affects food safety. The development of resistance to available anthelmintics coupled with their high cost has further complicated matters. This has led to the investigation of alternative methods to manage nematodes, including the use of plants and plant extracts as a potential source of novel anthelmintics. Acetone extracts were prepared from 15 South African plant species and their anthelmintic activity determined using the egg hatch assay (EHA). The leaf extract of Cleome gynandra had the best inhibitory activity (68% ± 3%) at a concentration of 2.5 mg/mL, followed by the stem extract of Maerua angolensis (65% ± 5%). The extracts had a relatively low toxicity on Vero cells determined by the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide) cellular assay.

The potential economic benefits of combining tactical anthelmintic treatment for gastrointestinal nematodes and nutritional supplementation with urea-molasses blocks were examined in Boer goats raised under extensive grazing conditions in the summer rainfall area of South Africa. Eight groups of nine goats were monitored over a 12-month period from 1 October 2002 to 9 October 2003. Ad libitum nutritional supplementation with urea-molasses blocks was provided when the goats were housed at night, during the summer (wet season-December 2002 to February 2003), and/or the winter (dry season-June 2003 to August 2003). All the goats were treated symptomatically for Haemonchus contortus infection when deemed necessary by clinical examination of the conjunctiva for anaemia using the FAMACHA© system. Half the groups were tactically treated for gastrointestinal nematodes in mid-summer (28 January 2003). Under the symptomatic treatment, climatic and extensive grazing conditions encountered during the trial, feed supplementation in the winter dry season had the greatest economic benefit and is therefore recommended. Tactical anthelmintic treatment afforded no additional advantage, but the nematode challenge was low.

Eighteen female lambs with prior exposure to Haemonchus contortus infections were ovariectomized and assigned to 1 of 3 replacement regimens: 0, 25, or 250 mg of progesterone/d delivered IM. After 3 weeks of hormonal treatment, all lambs were inoculated with 100,000 infective larvae of H. contortus. After 8 weeks of hormonal treatment, a blastogenic assay was performed on blood lymphocyte populations, and the abomasum from each lamb was obtained for larval and adult worm recoveries of H. contortus. Lambs of the 25 mg of progesterone group had significantly (P < 0.05) reduced blastogenic response to concanavalin A and greater adult and larval populations, compared with controls. Lambs of the 250 mg of progesterone group had worm burdens and lymphocyte blastogenesis values intermediate between those of the other treatment groups.

Sixteen nonsibling sheep, approximately 12 months old, that were raised in a helminth-free environment, were used for 2 protection studies 6 months apart. Sheep were vaccinated weekly for 5 weeks by IM injection of fibrinogen-degrading proteins derived from the intestinal tract of adult Haemonchus contortus. Ten days after the last vaccination, sheep were given 2,500 infective H contortus larvae by intraruminal injection. Vaccinated sheep produced specific antibodies, and were protected from the worm challenge. Significant differences in mean fecal worm egg counts for 56 days after worm challenge, in mean numbers of H contortus worms, and female fecundity ratios at necropsy were detected in vaccinated sheep, compared with those in control sheep. These data suggest that the fibrinogen-degrading proteins have a protective role in vaccination of sheep against H contortus.