[Effects of the fenbendazole SR bolus on Trichostrongylus infections in young calves during two consecutive grazing periods].

A two-year study was conducted in northern Germany to investigate the effects of the fenbendazole slow release (SR) bolus on trichostrongyle infections in cattle. Two groups of dairy replacement calves were either given a bolus at their first turncut on pasture or treated with fenbendazole suspension twice in mid-summer and at housing. Bolus-treated and control animals were set stocked on separate pastures during their first grazing season (26 weeks) and grazed together during the second year (24 weeks). During the first season the bolus prevented substantially the output of strongyle eggs for more than four months resulting in a lower infection risk in late summer and autumn as compared to the control group. The plasma pepsinogen concentrations remained low in the bolus-treated cattle during their first grazing period but rose in the controls soon after turnout which indicated increasing trichostrongyle-caused damages of the abomasal mucosa. During the following housing period and the second grazing season the bolus-treated animals showed higher egg counts than the controls. No clinical sign of parasitic gastroenteritis and no patent lungworm infections were observed during the study. The bolus-treated cattle performed better than the control animals during both grazing seasons although the control group had compensated temporarily the group difference in weight gains during the housing period. In conclusion, the use of the fenbendazole SR bolus may impair the development of immunity to trichostrongyle infections to some extent but, under the present conditions, this does not seem of clinical or economic importance.