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Abstract

Objective—To determine prevalence of resistance to all anthelmintics that are commonly used to treat gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) in goats.

Design—Prospective study.

Animals—777 goats.

Procedure—On each farm, goats were assigned to 1 of 5 treatment groups: untreated controls, albendazole (20 mg/kg [9.0 mg/lb], PO, once), ivermectin (0.4 mg/kg [0.18 mg/lb], PO, once), levamisole (12 mg/kg [5.4 mg/lb], PO, once), or moxidectin (0.4 mg/kg, PO, once), except on 3 farms where albendazole was omitted. Fecal samples were collected 2 weeks after treatment for determination of fecal egg counts (FECs), and percentage reductions were calculated by comparing data from anthelmintic-treated and control groups. Nematode populations were categorized as susceptible, suspected resistant, or resistant by use of guidelines published by the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology.

Results—Resistance to albendazole was found on 14 of 15 farms, and resistance to ivermectin, levamisole, and moxidectin was found on 17, 6, and 1 of 18 farms, respectively. Suspected resistance to levamisole and moxidectin was found on 4 and 3 farms, respectively. Resistance to multiple anthelmintics (albendazole and ivermectin) was found on 14 of 15 farms and to albendazole, ivermectin, and levamisole on 5 of 15 farms. Mean overall FEC reduction percentages for albendazole, ivermectin, levamisole, and moxidectin were 67, 54, 94, and 99%, respectively.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Anthelmintic resistance in GINs of goats is highly prevalent in the southern United States. The high prevalence of resistance to multiple anthelmintics emphasizes the need for reexamination of nematode control practices. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2003;223:495–500)

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in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

Abstract

Objective—To characterize clinical features of avian vacuolar myelinopathy (AVM) in American coots.

Design—Case-control study.

Animals—26 AVM-affected American coots and 12 unaffected coots.

Procedures—Complete physical, neurologic, hematologic, and plasma biochemical evaluations were performed. Affected coots received supportive care. All coots died or were euthanatized, and AVM status was confirmed via histopathologic findings.

Results—3 severely affected coots were euthanatized immediately after examination. Seventeen affected coots were found dead within 7 days of admission, but 5 affected coots survived > 21 days and had signs of clinical recovery. Abnormal physical examination findings appeared to be related to general debilitation. Ataxia (88%), decreased withdrawal reflexes (88%), proprioceptive deficits (81%), decreased vent responses (69%), beak or tongue weakness (42%), and head tremors (31%), as well as absent pupillary light responses (46%), anisocoria (15%), apparent blindness (4%), nystagmus (4%), and strabismus (4%) were detected. Few gross abnormalities were detected at necropsy, but histologically, all AVM-affected coots had severe vacuolation of white matter of the brain. None of the control coots had vacuolation.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Although there was considerable variability in form and severity of clinical neurologic abnormalities, clinical signs common in AVM-affected birds were identified. Clinical recovery of some AVM-affected coots can occur when supportive care is administered. Until the etiology is identified, caution should be exercised when rehabilitating and releasing coots thought to be affected by AVM. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2002;221: 80–85)

Full access
in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association