Common parasites of the European bison include gastro-intestinal and pulmonary nematodes, liver flukes (Fasciola hepatica), tapeworms, and protozoa of the genus Coccidia. This study compared the extensiveness and intensities of European bison parasitic invasions in three north-eastern Polish forests in different seasons and queried the role of parasitological monitoring in sanitary and hygienic control of feeding places. Faecal samples were collected in the Białowieża, Knyszyńska, and Borecka Forests between 2014 and 2016, as were some from an area neighbouring the Białowieża Forest outside the Natura 2000 protected area. Parasites were detected in individual samples with the flotation, decanting and Baermann methods. The eggs of Trichostrongylidae, Aonchotheca sp., Nematodirus sp., Strongyloides spp., Trichuris sp., Moniezia spp., and Fasciola hepatica; the larvae of Dictyocaulus viviparus; and the oocytes of Eimeria spp. were identified. Significant variation in invasion intensity and diversity was seen by origin and season. The relationships were assessed first by univariable tests and next multivariately, when origin and season emerged as the major risk factors for exposure to most of the parasites. The differences in the level of parasitic infection between the forests did not have implications for its sufficiency to cause clinical symptoms. However, the associations and risk factors found enable the necessary preventive measures to be taken to protect the E. bison from exposure or decrease the risks. Additionally, parasitological monitoring is appropriate as the method of sanitary and hygienic control of European bison winter feeding places. Threats to public health through adventitious invasions by zoonotic factors such as F. hepatica have been identified.

Efficacy of abamectin against gastrointestinal tract nematodes and lungworms of cattle was determined in 4 experiments. The first 2 experiments were controlled trials in which efficacy was determined at necropsy in calves with either experimentally induced (n = 14) or naturally acquired (n = 16) infections. Half the calves in each experiment were treated with abamectin (200 micrograms/kg of body weight, sc), and half were left untreated as controls. Efficacy was > 99% against adult stages of Dictyocaulus viviparus, Haemonchus placei, Ostertagia ostertagi, Trichostrongylus axei, Cooperia punctata, Trichuris discolor, and C oncophora, and was 92.4% against Nematodirus helvetianus. The second 2 experiments were clinical trials in which efficacy was determined by fecal egg count reduction in naturally infected yearling heifers (n = 75) or 2-year-old heifers (n = 75). Within replicates of 5, 4 heifers were assigned at random to treatment with 200 Kg of abamectin/kg and 1 was left untreated as a control. Abamectin was 100% effective in eliminating strongylate nematode eggs from the feces of these heifers. In all experiments, adverse reactions were limited to small, clinically unimportant injection site swellings in 29% of abamectin-treated calves. Abamectin was judged to be safe and effective in these trials.

An antigen extract of Dictyocaulus viviparus was analyzed by use of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and the antigen-recognition patterns of serum antibody from cattle not infected, cattle infected with D viviparus, and cattle with unknown history of D viviparus were analyzed by the use of ELISA and western blotting techniques. Cross-reactive antibody-recognition patterns were determined by comparing western blots of D viviparus-positive sera with blots of D viviparus-negative sera obtained from cattle singly infected with Bunostomum phlebotomum, Cooperia oncophora, C punctata, Nematodirus helvetianus, Oesophagostomum radiatum, or Ostertagia ostertagi. Five antigen bands unique to D viviparus were identified, and their frequency of appearance in western blots of sera from verified D viviparus-positive and -negative cattle, and sera from cattle exposed to the parasite, but with unknown D viviparus immune status, were determined. Of the 5 antigens unique to D viviparus, 29- and 19-kd bands had the highest frequencies of reaction (45.9 and 59.0%, respectively) with the test sera. These bands had strong reactivity with sera containing antibodies to D viviparus and did not react with the heterologous sera. We conclude that the 29- and 19-kd antigens may be useful for developing an improved serodiagnostic test for D viviparus infections in cattle.

gastrointestinal nematodes, calves (exper.), efficacy of ivermectin given subcutaneously or given orally as drench or paste