Gastrointestinal Strongyles Egg Excretion in Relation to Age, Gender, and Management of Horses in Italy

Current equine helminth control strategies play a key role in strongyle epidemiology and anthelmintic resistance and have led to the recommendation for new treatment plans, which include diagnostic and efficacy surveillance. Assessing the equine strongyle distribution patterns would thus be useful a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Animals (Basel) 2020-12, Vol.10 (12), p.2283
Main Authors: Scala, Antonio, Tamponi, Claudia, Sanna, Giuliana, Predieri, Giulio, Dessì, Giorgia, Sedda, Giampietro, Buono, Francesco, Cappai, Maria Grazia, Veneziano, Vincenzo, Varcasia, Antonio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Animal health
Animals
Anthelmintic agents
Antiparasitic agents
Diagnostic systems
Distribution patterns
Eggs
Epidemiology
fecal egg shedding
Feces
gastrointestinal strongyles
Gender
Geographical distribution
Health risks
Horses
Infections
intestinal parasites
Laboratories
Lactones
management
Parasites
prevalence
Risk analysis
Risk factors
Shedding
Statistical analysis
Variance analysis
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Summary:Current equine helminth control strategies play a key role in strongyle epidemiology and anthelmintic resistance and have led to the recommendation for new treatment plans, which include diagnostic and efficacy surveillance. Assessing the equine strongyle distribution patterns would thus be useful and this study describes the strongyle prevalence in the equine population in Italy through coprological analysis and coproculture. In addition, individual data on each animal were collected in order to identify risk factors associated with strongyle egg shedding. Of the total number of stables investigated, 86.4% were found to have at least one positive animal and a 39.5% prevalence of strongyle egg shedding with a mean eggs per gram (EPG) of 245. A total of 80% of the total recorded EPG was shed from 12.8% of positive horses, thus confirming the need for new targeted intervention strategies. Significant differences in parasite prevalence were found based on season, sex, geographical distribution, management and rearing system, and breed. Significantly lower EPG values were found in horses that had received anthelmintic treatment, and macrocyclic lactones (MLs) were the most effective. Lastly, although large strongyles are more pathogenic, horses in Italy are mainly burdened by small strongyles, which pose an important animal health risk requiring continuous parasitological monitoring.
ISSN:2076-2615
2076-2615
DOI:10.3390/ani10122283