Sustainable Integrated Parasite Management (sIPM)

How can we do this here in Atlantic Canada?

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

1. Manage the level of pasture

contamination

2. Use anthelmintics

appropriately

3. Monitor and treat animals

selectively

4. Quarantine & treat new

introductions

5. Investigate

treatment failure

5 STAR WORM PLAN

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 (h2 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 well-designed studies E.g. Neem oil

For a sIPM to work – you must use efficacious anthelmintics when they are needed