Efficacy of imidacloprid, imidacloprid/permethrin and phoxim for flea control in the Mustelidae (ferrets, mink).

Farmed mink (Mustela vison), a close relative of the domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo), naturally infested with the squirrel flea (Ceratophyllus sciurorum) were included in a study to investigate three compounds for flea control. The test products were imidacloprid in a 10% (w/v) solution, an imidacloprid 10% (w/v)/permethrin 50% (w/v) solution, and phoxim; all three are well-known compounds for the control of different ectoparasites in a wide range of animals. Two groups of mink received 0.1 ml per animal of the imidacloprid or the imidacloprid/permethrin combination at days 0 and 28, respectively. Two groups of mink were sprayed with 25 ml of a 0.1% phoxim solution at day 0 and either 1x25 ml or 2x25 ml, respectively, of a 0.05% phoxim solution at day 28. One group of mink served as an untreated control. At assessment on day 56 the efficacy was 91.9% in the imidacloprid group, 89.3% in the imidacloprid/permethrin group, 92.2% in the phoxim 1x25-ml group and 99.3% in the phoxim 2x25 ml group, respectively. In the untreated control group an average of 757 fleas per mink nesting material was recorded.