Sustainable Integrated Parasite Management (sipm) The goal of a parasite control program is to control the parasites on a farm to a level which has minimal effect on animal health and productivity without allowing for the development of anthelmintic resistance How can we do this here in Atlantic Canada?
5 STAR WORM PLAN 1. Manage the level of pasture contamination 5. Investigate treatment failure 2. Use anthelmintics appropriately 4. Quarantine & treat new introductions 3. Monitor and treat animals selectively University of Guelph, Guelph Ontario Canada Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs
3. MONITOR AND TREAT ANIMALS SELECTIVELY P. Menzies
Targeted Treatments The Group Treat the group only when they need it Monitor Faecal egg counts Clinical changes
When to monitor FEC and possibly treat the group... Courtesy N. Sargison
Ewes / Does at Birthing Eliminate or reduce the periparturient egg rise Winter and spring lambing / kidding Fall may not see because parasites become inhibited Contamination of pastures and dry lots with eggs Major source of spring infection of lambs and kids
Lambs / Kids at Mid-Summer Traditionally early to mid-july Time to start monitoring depends on Farm history of previous issues E.g. If problem the previous year in mid-july, start to monitor 2 weeks earlier Warmth and humidity of summer Warmer = earlier
Repeat Monitoring During Grazing Season If counts are low repeat in 3 to 4 weeks E.g. < 200 epg If counts are moderate repeat in 2 weeks E.g. 200 500 epg If Haemonchus is a farm problem repeat in 2 weeks
Monitor After Treatment FEC should be done every 4 (BZ and LV) to 6 (ML) weeks after treatment If clinical signs are evident after treatment, i.e. if suspect treatment failure, monitor 2 weeks after treatment
Should you monitor in the autumn? Parasites go hypobiotic rather than develop to adults Start late August and complete by October FEC will be low but does not mean the animals are not parasitized Don t bother monitoring in the autumn
Should you treat in the autumn? Treatment may kill arrested larvae that would otherwise overwinter in the animal BZ, ML and to some extent LV but not other dewormers May reduce PPER in ewes and does in the spring Monitor before lambing / kidding to make sure
Should you treat pre-breeding? Adults don t always need to be dewormed If FEC are high or clinical evidence of disease May decide to deworm But don t do it routinely only when needed
Targeted Selective Treatments Treat those individual animals that need it when they need it Even when FEC are high, the majority of the group don t require treating 30% of group are severely parasitized and 70% are mild to moderately parasitized Leave the best and treat the rest.
How do we determine which animals to treat? FEC are usually not done for individual animals Too expensive Pooled FEC are Very valuable in knowing when groups within the flock / herd should be dewormed But not in determining which animals within the group should be dewormed
Using the FAMACHA System in a sipm to detect and treat for Haemonchus Courtesy S Hart
Record Everything You Do Record numbers of animals in each category on the block histogram score sheet provided An easy visual record of situation in herd/flock
Courtesy S. Hart
General Treatment Guidelines When Using FAMACHA Treat goats and sheep in categories 4 and 5 With an effective anthelmintic Do not use in isolation Use FECs to monitor Evasive grazing, Targeted selective treatments
If No Animals in Categories 4 or 5 Then no treatment based on FAMACHA Re-examine two weeks later if weather is warm In dry or cool times of year every 4-6 weeks may be sufficient Gain experience Be careful
If < 10% in Categories 4 & 5 Then safe but treat categories 4 and 5 Re-examine two weeks later Courtesy S. Hart
If > 10% of Animals in Categories 4 & 5 Consider treating 3 s as well Change pastures if possible Do not treat all animals before move Consider checking more frequently 1X per week
Recommended To Treat 3 s When: >10% of herd or flock is in categories 4 and 5 If group is young animals Ewes/does around the time of lambing/kidding Thin poorly conditioned animals If down to 1 effective drug, consider using less effective drugs in category 3 animals
Integrating the FAMACHA System Examine especially animals which lag behind the flock/herd Check for animals with bottle jaw and/or diarrhea and treat these, regardless of whether they look anaemic or not This may indicate large numbers of other GIN that do not cause anaemia.
Identify Treated Animals E.g. Ear notch, wire through ear tag, paint marker, cable ties on legs If retreated, cull when opportunity
Precautions Only properly trained persons should apply the FAMACHA system The card is an AID in the control of Haemonchus ONLY Maintain an integrated management-based worm control program (5 Star Worm Plan) Best used by producers with input from flock veterinarian
Using Other Signs With FEC Diarrhoea (Dag scores) Weight gain Body condition score Dairy sheep and goats milk production
To Prevent Periparturient Egg Rise Not all ewes / does have a significant PPER Number of lambs / kids nursing Singles versus twins Age After first grazing season on pasture Takes 4 to 6 months of exposure to parasites to develop immunity Other disease that impairs immunity E.g. Johne s disease
Haemonchus, PPER & Resistance Haemonchus don t overwinter on pasture in our climate Only overwinter in the animal (hypobiotic / arrested) Nursing ewes and does are responsible for pasture contamination in the spring (PPER) If we deworm all the ewes and does at birthing Only resistant parasites will survive to contaminate the pastures Anthelmintic resistance even if we don t deworm a lot Is this what is happening in Ontario?
Using clinical signs together...
Alternative methods evidence based Must be used with a sustainable integrated program Will aid in reducing reliance on chemical anthelmintics Don t rely on hear-say, should stand up to scientific method The following are methods for which there is substantial scientific evidence of efficacy and safety for the control of GI nematode parasites
Condensed Tannin Pasture Plants Some plants high in CT s *Sericae lespedeza Sulla Bird s Foot Trefoil Sanfoin Evidence of reduction of FEC (meta-analysis) Effect may be through Increased availability of by-pass protein Improves immune response and Direct effect on parasites
Genetic Resistance Within a population of animals Reduced fecal egg output Higher immune response (detected in saliva, Carla) Heritability is moderate (h 2 is 0.25 to 0.3) Selection done on large groups of males By breed Some breeds are more resistant e.g. some tropical hair breeds But don t sacrifice economically important traits By gene test (e.g. Worm Star) Not there quite yet
Genetic Resistance Better method is to cull animals that don t develop immunity Require repeated treatments Higher FEC Higher FAMACHA score Don t retain offspring as breeding animals Can be part of the sipm monitoring system and requires no additional testing just good record keeping and animal ID s
Nematophagus Fungi Fungal spores fed to sheep Duddingtonia flagrans Fungi grow in fecal pellets on pasture Trap larvae and kill Need to feed daily at turn-out for ~ 60 days How to deliver sufficient spores on daily basis? Difficulties with getting to commercial production
Copper Oxide Wire Particles Several studies to show reduces infection of Haemonchus contortus Temporarily Reduces FEC Doesn t improve weight gain Not effective against other GIN Copper toxicity in sheep? NEVER EVER use copper sulphate (blue stone) Highly toxic
Other Natural Dewormers Peer-reviewed studies have not found a benefit Garlic Papaya seeds Some can be dangerous to animals / humans Nicotine Diatomaceous earth Other toxic plants Others have yet to stand up to scientific scrutiny in welldesigned studies E.g. Neem oil For a sipm to work you must use efficacious anthelmintics when they are needed