In the Malaysian environment horses are primarily used in sports activities such as racing, endurance, dressage and show jumping as well as in recreational pursuits and police work. Recently, the Perak Turf Club witnessed the death of a four-yearold thoroughbred mare which was given enrofloxacin injection as treatment and was regularly dewormed and vaccinated againstequine influenza, Japanese encephalitis and tetanus. Post-mortem examination of intestinal contents revealed presence of worms. The sample was then sent to the Veterinary Research Institute (VRI), Perak for morphological identification of the worm. The worm was identified as Parascaris equorum. Thus, awareness ongastrointestinal parasites should be raised especially by recommending improved management practices such as proper manure disposal and deworming procedures to control parasite infestations as well as good management and nutrition.

Strongylus spp. and other parasites of equids (natural infections), controlled tests with fenbendazole in multiple doses at two dose levels

nematodes of ponies, efficacy of oxibendazole in paste formulation, 1-group critical test compared with 2-group control test

A variety of enteric diseases may result in the manifestation of abdominal pain in horse. An acute colic in a 5-month-old Thoroughbred filly is described. The filly was presented with acute colic characterized by rolling and pawing. Next day she suffered from severe abdominal pain and subsequently died. Post mortem examination revealed very heavy ascarid, Parascaris equorum (P. equorum) infection in small intestine. In addition, it is also noted the presence of P. equorum in the stomach. Infection due to P. equorum manifests itself in foals between 6-8 weeks and one year of age.

Twenty-one mixed-breed pony foals, reared and maintained under parasite-free conditions, were used to test the efficacy of ivermectin in oral drench and paste formulations (200 microgram/kg) against 11-day-old migrating larvae of Parascaris equorum. Three replicates of 4 foals and 3 replicates of 3 foals were formed on the basis of age. Foals in replicates of 4 were randomly allocated to be indicators, or to receive vehicle (control) or ivermectin paste or ivermectin liquid. Foals in replicates of 3 were randomly allocated to receive vehicle or ivermectin paste or ivermectin liquid. The recovery of larvae from the lungs, liver, and small intestines of the indicator foals showed that 99.9% of the larvae were in the lungs 11 days after inoculation (day 0 of treatment). The recoveries of larvae from lungs and small intestines of controls at 25 days after inoculation indicated that all larvae had migrated to the small intestine by this time. The mean length of larvae recovered from the lungs (11 days after inoculation) was 0.87 mm; the mean length of those recovered from the small intestine (25 days after inoculation) was 3.65 mm. Using larvae recovered from small intestinal contents for calculations, ivermectin in both formulations was 100% effective against 11-day P equorum (P less than 0.01, compared with control group geometric mean of 1498.4).