Veterinary Anthelmintics and Anthelmintic Drug Resistance

Volume 18 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , Pages 191-206

Authors

¹ Department of Basic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine-Sulaimani University, Sulaimaniyah,-Iraq

Helminths are a diverse group of parasitic worms in the body of animals and

human. Infection of livestock with parasitic worms poses a great burden on the

health of animals that eventually leads to great losses in the productivity of these

animals and economic losses to the farmers. The control of helminthiasis is

dependent almost solely on the use of anthelmintic drugs, due to the ease of

implementation and low cost of therapy, compared to other methods of control.

However, chemotherapy of parasitic worms is burdened with such problems as the

development of anthelmintic resistance (AR). Many of the currently available

anthelmintic drugs have been in use for quite a long time and reports exhibiting the

development of AR against them are increasing.

Improving livestock management and, hence, productivity is a requirement in order

to compensate for the increasing world population, which will eventually lead to

increased demands for animal products. The tackling of AR needs to implement

such methods as: (i) the systematic use of the currently available drugs, (ii) control

of animal pasture, (iii) promoting the breeding of animals that are naturally

resistant to certain types of helminths and (iv) development of new anthelmintic

drugs by the pharmaceutical industry that have novel modes of action. Although

each of these methods plays a part in the control program, chemotherapy will

remain the cornerstone in the control program of helminth infections. Hence, the

continuous supply of new antiparasitic compounds to the currently available

anthelmintic pool is the best strategy to be implemented in the fight against

helminth infections.

Statistics