The Horse Trust has awarded £60,000 to the Liverpool School of Tropical
Medicine to investigate why horses are becoming resistant to modern-day wormers.
Intestinal worms are found in all breeds of horses throughout the world. Poor management, when horses graze heavily worm-infested pastures and are not treated with appropriate wormers, frequently causes serious damage to the intestinal wall resulting in diarrhoea, weight loss, colic and death.
Paul Jepson, Chief Executive and Veterinary Director of the Trust said: "Modern wormers can be very effective but their widespread use and owners‚ failure to switch regularly between wormers with different active ingredients has resulted in the worms developing resistance to these medicines."
The research aims to identify the genes in intestinal worms that enable the worms to become resistant to the latest generation of wormers. This knowledge will provide a springboard to the long-term aim of developing a practical test to detect resistance before undertaking treatment.
Intestinal worms are found in all breeds of horses throughout the world. Poor management, when horses graze heavily worm-infested pastures and are not treated with appropriate wormers, frequently causes serious damage to the intestinal wall resulting in diarrhoea, weight loss, colic and death.
Paul Jepson, Chief Executive and Veterinary Director of the Trust said: "Modern wormers can be very effective but their widespread use and owners‚ failure to switch regularly between wormers with different active ingredients has resulted in the worms developing resistance to these medicines."
The research aims to identify the genes in intestinal worms that enable the worms to become resistant to the latest generation of wormers. This knowledge will provide a springboard to the long-term aim of developing a practical test to detect resistance before undertaking treatment.
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