Vet World Vol.15 February-2022 Article-2
Research Article
Veterinary World, 15(2): 244-251
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2022.244-251
Most common inappropriate drug usage factors in anthelmintic treatment on sheep farms in Latvia
2. Institute of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, K. Helmana street 8, Jelgava, LV-3004, Latvia.
Background and Aim: There is little understanding about antiparasitic drug prescription trends and implementation to reduce possible drug overuse or misuse worldwide. This study aimed to review sheep parasite control strategies and antiparasitic drug use habits in Latvia. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study in the world that describes how antiparasitic drugs are used and what are the most common drug usage errors in a sheep farm.
Materials and Methods: A semi-structured questionnaire was designed to collect relevant information from face-to-face interviews to assess 22 sheep farmers' knowledge and management procedures in farms. We collected information about animal feeding, herding, parasite diagnostics, and antiparasitic drug usage. The questionnaire summary included information on pasture use, parasite control management, and anthelmintic drug choice/use.
Results: Only 36% of farms regularly managed parasite control by analyzing fecal samples for parasites, but prophylactic deworming was employed in all farms. Ivermectin, albendazole, levamisole, and monepantel were used on the farms and most of the farms were multidrug users; 77.3% of the farms used albendazole and 72.7% used ivermectin.
Conclusion: The results indicated a lack of parasitological examination and parasite control of the flock, mostly empiric drug selection, incorrect dosing, inaccurate drug administration, drug storage, and use errors. A proactive approach to herd health planning, regular parasitic control, and prophylactic measures may benefit farmers and veterinarians. Keywords: anthelmintics, drug resistance, drug usage errors, sheep.
Keywords: anthelmintics, drug resistance, drug usage errors, sheep.
How to cite this article: Kovaļčuka L, Keidāne D, Kļaviņa A, Grasberga MB, Vekšins A (2022) Most common inappropriate drug usage factors in anthelmintic treatment on sheep farms in Latvia, Veterinary World, 15(2): 244-251.
Received: 02-11-2021 Accepted: 07-01-2022 Published online: 04-02-2022
Corresponding author: Līga Kovaļčuka E-mail: kovalcuka@gmail.com
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.244-251
Copyright: Kovaļčuka, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.