Efficacy of clorsulon against Fascioloides magna infection in sheep

J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1988 Apr 1;192(7):910-2.

Abstract

In a study to evaluate the efficacy of clorsulon against Fascioloides magna infection in sheep, 12 ewes were inoculated orally with 100 metacercariae of F magna, and 6 were treated with clorsulon (15 mg/kg of body weight) 8 weeks after inoculation. The sheep were euthanatized 16 weeks after inoculation, flukes were recovered, and the liver and other tissues were subjectively scored for the severity of lesions (0 to 4+). The number of flukes recovered from the clorsulon-treated group (3.8 +/- 1.2 flukes) was significantly (P = 0.025) lower than the number of flukes recovered from the group of untreated controls (10.0 +/- 6.6 flukes). The severity of lesions was significantly (P = 0.004) reduced (45.9%) in the treated group (2.0 +/- 1.1), compared with that in the untreated controls (3.7 +/- 0.5). In the untreated group, 3 sheep died and 1 became moribund 14 to 16 weeks after inoculation. The data suggested that a single treatment with clorsulon at a dosage of 15 mg/kg 8 weeks after inoculation was not effective in preventing F magna infection in sheep, because the survival of only a few F magna is potentially fatal in sheep within 6 months after infection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antiplatyhelmintic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Body Weight
  • Fasciolidae / growth & development
  • Fascioloidiasis / drug therapy*
  • Female
  • Liver / parasitology
  • Liver / pathology
  • Sheep
  • Sheep Diseases / drug therapy*
  • Sulfanilamides / therapeutic use*

Substances

  • Antiplatyhelmintic Agents
  • Sulfanilamides
  • clorsulon