Second Edition of Fasciolosis and Gastrointestinal Helminthiasis of Ruminants and Equids

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Veterinary Clinical Studies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 4116

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
UMR Infectiologie et Santé Publique, INRAE & University of Tours, 37380 Nouzilly, France
Interests: eco-epidemiology of helminths; anthelmintics; philosophy of animal diseases; sociology of farming
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Gastro-intestinal and liver helminths are a major health problem, particularly for grazing herbivores. The first Special Issue on the same topic did not cover all the fields of research in this area, driving the publication of this second Special Issue. We may expect that the use of pasture as a natural source of feed will be maintained or even increased due to the consumer expectations for naturalness. The use of available anthelmintics has proved efficient for decades, but resistance to anthelmintics has steadily increased in small ruminants and equids, and is nowadays also distributed in cattle. The stakeholders of husbandry then turned to alternative solutions such as breeding production animals for resistance, mostly against gastro-intestinal nematodes. The investigation for drugs based on new mechanisms is an avenue for the control of infection. The use of natural drugs derived from plants has also been promoted. The use of the new available drugs should be moderate and targeted to the animals in need of treatments if we want to avoid the appearance of resistance to these drugs. The management of pastures should be also included in control programs.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute this Special Issue searching for original and novel papers on the recent evolution of the prevalence of gastrointestinal and Fasciola infections, the ways to control them through an increase in host resistance, synthetic anthelmintics or natural substances, and the management of pastures.

This Special Issue aims to provide information on the recent findings in managing helminthiases in ruminants and equids.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  1. Resistance of host to GIN or Fasciola;
  2. New mechanisms of drug action and control of GIN or Fasciola;
  3. Kinds of drugs for control: both in vivo and vitro studies addressing the anthelmintic potential of bio-active compounds from natural source, as well as synthetic compounds;
  4. Ways to use available drugs in a context of resistance and targeted selective treatments (TST);
  5. Parasite control in the environment (pasture management, snail control, etc.);
  6. Farmers’ vision of gastrointestinal nematode management.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Jacques Cabaret
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • host resistance
  • anthelmintics
  • TST
  • Fasciola
  • gastrointestinal helminths

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

7 pages, 403 KiB  
Communication
Lack of Efficacy of Albendazole against Dicrocoelium dendriticum Infection in a Sheep Farm in France
by Julie Petermann, Christelle Grisez, Sophie Lavigne and Philippe Jacquiet
Animals 2024, 14(13), 1992; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14131992 - 5 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 712
Abstract
Dicrocoeliosis is a common parasitic disease in European sheep farming. The prevalence of infection by this parasite can reach almost 70% in areas where the environment is favorable to intermediate hosts. In France, only one drug is currently available for the treatment of [...] Read more.
Dicrocoeliosis is a common parasitic disease in European sheep farming. The prevalence of infection by this parasite can reach almost 70% in areas where the environment is favorable to intermediate hosts. In France, only one drug is currently available for the treatment of dicrocoeliosis: albendazole at a dose of 15 mg/kg in a single administration. However, a control coproscopy following a routine treatment led us to suspect that the efficacy of albendazole against Dicrocoelium dendriticum had diminished. Therefore, we carried out an efficacy test on 15 animals by treating them with albendazole at a dose of 15 mg/kg and performing a coproscopy on D0 and a control coproscopy 14 days later. We obtained a 39% reduction in the excretion of D. dendriticum eggs. This shows a reduction in the expected efficacy of albendazole, which is normally more than 90% in other studies involving this molecule at a dosage of 15 mg/kg. These results are of major concern as albendazole is currently the only drug available in France to treat dicrocoeliosis. Full article
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18 pages, 3815 KiB  
Article
Liver Histopathological and Immunohistochemical Evaluation from Fasciola hepatica Experimentally Infected and Reinfected Sheep
by Guillem Herrera-Torres, María T. Ruiz-Campillo, María J. Bautista, Francisco J. Martínez-Moreno, Rafael Zafra, Leandro Buffoni, Pablo J. Rufino-Moya, Álvaro Martínez-Moreno, Verónica Molina-Hernández and José Pérez
Animals 2024, 14(12), 1833; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14121833 - 20 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1068
Abstract
Fasciolosis is an important economic disease of livestock. There is a global interest in the development of protective vaccines since the current anthelmintic therapy is no longer sustainable. A better knowledge of the host–parasite interaction is needed to design effective vaccines. To date, [...] Read more.
Fasciolosis is an important economic disease of livestock. There is a global interest in the development of protective vaccines since the current anthelmintic therapy is no longer sustainable. A better knowledge of the host–parasite interaction is needed to design effective vaccines. To date, few studies have evaluated host–parasite interaction by comparing infected and reinfected animals. The present study evaluates the microscopical hepatic lesions in sheep infected and reinfected with Fasciola hepatica during the acute and chronic stages of infection. The histopathological study revealed the presence of necrotizing foci (NF1) associated with larvae migration during the early stages of infection in the primoinfected (PI) and reinfected (RI) groups. In the late stages of infection of the PI group and at the early and late stages of infection in the RI groups, extensive necrotizing/hemorrhagic foci (NF2) were found in the vicinity of enlarged bile ducts, some containing adult flukes, suggesting parasites may have caused NF2 while feeding. The immunohistochemical study revealed an increase in Foxp3+ T cells in both PI and RI groups with respect to the UC group and in the infiltrates adjacent to NF1 in the RI groups with respect to the PI group, suggesting the F. hepatica induce Foxp3 T cell expansion to facilitate parasite survival. In addition, in both the PI and RI groups, and during acute and chronic stages of the infection, a poor expression of iNOS was found accompanied by a strong expression of CD163, suggesting a marked M2 activation of macrophages in the hepatic lesions, which may be related with healing processes, and it also may facilitate parasite survival. The main differences between PI and RI animals were the more severe infiltration of eosinophils and Foxp3+ T cells, whereas RI did not modify M2 activation of macrophages which occurs since the early stages of primoinfection. Full article
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15 pages, 322 KiB  
Article
Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Small Ruminant Farms in Southern Spain
by Pablo José Rufino-Moya, Rafael Zafra Leva, Lilian Gonçalves Reis, Isabel Acosta García, Diego Ruiz Di Genova, Almudena Sánchez Gómez, Francisco García García and Francisco J. Martínez-Moreno
Animals 2024, 14(11), 1668; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14111668 - 3 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1020
Abstract
The primary population of small ruminants in Spain is concentrated in the southern region, a critical area for the country’s livestock production. Indirect economic losses can occur when this livestock is affected by gastrointestinal parasites. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of [...] Read more.
The primary population of small ruminants in Spain is concentrated in the southern region, a critical area for the country’s livestock production. Indirect economic losses can occur when this livestock is affected by gastrointestinal parasites. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of these parasites in small ruminant herds (159 sheep and 39 goats) through coprological analyses and conducted a survey on farmers’ management practices related to gastrointestinal parasite control. The survey results revealed some important aspects: monitoring through coprological analyses is not a common practice; veterinarians are not typically involved in deworming plans; anthelmintic treatment in adults is often applied twice a year in sheep and once a year in goats; and finally, drug rotation was higher in sheep farms. Coprological analyses showed Eimeria spp. as the most common parasitic infection, followed by Strongyles infection. Other parasites like Moniezia spp., Trichuris spp., and D. dendriticum were less important, although their prevalence was higher in sheep than goats. This constitutes the first report on the epidemiological status of gastrointestinal parasites in small ruminants in southern Spain. Based on the survey findings, the introduction of certain management measures on farms could potentially mitigate parasite infections. Full article
16 pages, 2343 KiB  
Article
Effect of the Combination of Synthetic Anthelmintics with Carvacryl Acetate in Emulsions with and without a Sodium Alginate Matrix on Haemonchus contortus
by Livia Furtado Ximenes, Henety Nascimento Pinheiro, José Vilemar de Araújo Filho, Weibson Paz Pinheiro André, Flávia Oliveira Monteiro da Silva Abreu, Mayrla Rocha Lima Cardial, Debora de Souza Colares Maia Castelo-Branco, Ana Carolina Fonseca Lindoso Melo, Francisco Flávio da Silva Lopes, Selene Maia de Morais, Lorena Mayana Beserra de Oliveira and Claudia Maria Leal Bevilaqua
Animals 2024, 14(7), 1007; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14071007 - 26 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 920
Abstract
The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of nanoemulsions using combined synthetic anthelmintics, thiabendazole (TBZ), levamisole (LEV), and ivermectin (IVM), with carvacryl acetate (CA) against Haemonchus contortus, and also tested the presence and absence of alginate (ALG). The anthelmintic effect of [...] Read more.
The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of nanoemulsions using combined synthetic anthelmintics, thiabendazole (TBZ), levamisole (LEV), and ivermectin (IVM), with carvacryl acetate (CA) against Haemonchus contortus, and also tested the presence and absence of alginate (ALG). The anthelmintic effect of the CA/TBZ nanoemulsion was evaluated in the egg hatch test (EHT). The effects of CA/IVM and CA/LEV nanoemulsions were evaluated in the larval development test (LDT). The emulsions CA/TBZ/ALG and CA/TBZ showed a multimodal profile, with most particles on the nanometric scale. The encapsulation efficiency in CA/TBZ/ALG was 80.25%, and that in CA/LEV/ALG was 89.73%. In the EHT, CA/TBZ and CA/TBZ/ALG showed mean combination indices (CIs) of 0.55 and 0.36, respectively, demonstrating synergism in both. In LDT, CA/IVM had an average CI of 0.75, and CA/LEV and CA/LEV/ALG showed CI values of 0.4 and 0.93, respectively. It was concluded that CA/TBZ showed a synergistic interaction, and CA/TBZ/ALG showed an enhanced effect. In addition, the matrix brought stability to the product, encouraging its improvement to obtain higher efficacy. Full article
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