Abstract
Targeted selective treatment (TST) is an alternative method to reduce the use of anthelmintics and delay the development of resistant nematode populations. However, there is limited information on the actual effects of this type of treatment on livestock productivity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the production performance of Santa Ines (hair) and Ile de France (wool) lambs naturally infected with gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) under TST based on packed cell volume (PCV) versus suppressive anthelmintic treatments. Thirty-eight lambs were divided into two treatment groups: Suppressive treatment, animals were drenched with monepantel every two weeks and TST, animals were treated with the same anthelmintic when they presented PCV ≤ 20%. Feces, blood, and weight were measured weekly to determine eggs per gram of feces, PCV, total plasma protein, and weight gain. After animals were slaughtered, carcasses were weighed to determine carcass yield. In the TST group, substantial productive losses of approximately 21.3% in the wool and 25.9% in the hair lambs were observed in body weight compared to their counterparts. Significant differences in hematological variables occurred over the experimental period, especially in the wool lambs under TST. Favorable environmental conditions enabled infective larvae to survive and thrive on pasture. Haemonchus contortus and intestinal nematodes were the most common parasites found in the Ile de France lambs and the Santa Ines lambs, respectively. Although TST prevented mortality, it did not prevent production losses. Both breeds showed a significant drop in production due to GIN parasitism.
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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the financial support provided by the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES), São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).
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Ana Cláudia Alexandre de Albuquerque received financial support from the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES); Fabiana Alves de Almeida received financial support from São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, 2015/25718–7); Cesar Cristiano Bassetto received financial support from FAPESP (2015/00221–2); and Alessandro F. T. Amarante is a recipient of a fellowship from Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, 303624/2021–3).
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All authors contributed to the study's conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and laboratorial and statistical analysis were performed by Ana Cláudia Alexandre de Albuquerque, Fabiana Alves de Almeida, César Cristiano Bassetto and Alessandro F. T. Amarante. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Ana Cláudia Alexandre de Albuquerque, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Albuquerque, A.C.A., Almeida, F.A., Bassetto, C.C. et al. Influence of targeted selective anthelmintic treatment on the productive performance of wool and hair lambs naturally infected with gastrointestinal nematodes in Brazil. Vet Res Commun 47, 1207–1216 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-022-10061-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-022-10061-2