Efficacy of commonly used anthelmintics: first report of multiple drug resistance in gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep in Trinidad.

In Trinidad, small ruminant farms are semi-intensively managed under tropical conditions which support the development and survival of the infective stages of the helminths. Local farmers use anthelmintics to control gastrointestinal nematodes frequently. Frequent use of anthelmintics has the potential to select for populations of nematodes resistance to those chemicals. Hence, an attempt was made to study the efficacy of commonly used drugs on gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep. Three farms situated in different counties in Trinidad were selected. Sheep aged 6-15 months and not treated with anthelmintics for a minimum of six months previous and with faecal egg count (FEC)>150 eggs per gram were selected for study. They were allocated into 5 groups, each consisting 10 animals. The Group TA animals were treated once with albendazole (5mg/kg. b.wt.), group TF with fenbendazole (5mg/kg.b.wt.), group TI animals with ivermectin (200 μg/kg b.wt.), group TL with levamisol (7.5mg/kg b.wt.). The group NTC animals were not given any drug and served as control. The number of nematode eggs per gram of faeces from each animal was determined before treatment and at 14 days after treatment. The anthelmintic susceptibility to different drugs was detected by FECRT (in vivo) with EPG recorded at 14 day post-treatment. The data analysis using FECRT revealed that efficacy of albendazole (46-62%), fenbendazole (44-61%) and levamisol (53-81%) were reduced compared to ivermectin (95-97%). An attempt has also been made to find a suitable method for calculation of FECR (%).