The activity of the veterinary drug moxidectin against Onchocerca volvulus and On. lienalis microfilariae (mf), both in vitro and in experimentally infected CBA/Ca mice, was compared with that of ivermectin. The in-vitro results demonstrated that both compounds (at a concentration of 10(-7) M) significantly reduced the mf motility index (MI) throughout the 7-day culture period and that this reduction was similar for the two compounds. Mice were treated with moxidectin and ivermectin by subcutaneous injection (sc) or orally (po); the two routes were equally efficacious. When mice infected with On. lienalis were treated with one of the drugs at 3.2, 1.6, 0.8, 0.4 or 0.2 micrograms/kg.day on days 3-7 post-infection, with necropsy on day 18, moxidectin cleared more mf than ivermectin at all of the doses examined. In mice treated with a single dose (on day 3 post-infection), 150 or 15 micrograms/kg moxidectin completely cleared the mf whereas 1.5 micrograms/kg produced a 90%-96% reduction in mf recoveries. Following ivermectin treatment at the same doses, mf were virtually cleared at 150 micrograms/kg, with a 98% reduction at 15 micrograms/kg but no significant effect at 1.5 micrograms/kg. When mice with On. volvulus infections were treated with a single dose of moxidectin at 15 or 1.5 micrograms/kg, there were reductions in mf recoveries of 96% and 23%, respectively, compared with only a 48% reduction with 15 micrograms ivermectin/kg and a 2% increase with 1.5 micrograms ivermectin/kg. In order to examine the persistence and activity of each drug, mice were treated with a single dose of 150 micrograms/kg up to 28 days before infection. Moxidectin was found to be more efficacious (with subsequent 99.9% reduction in mf when given 28 days pre-infection and a 100% reduction when give 16 or 4 days before or 3 days after infection) than ivermectin (giving reductions of 57.1%, 66.7%, 100% and 100%, respectively). The further evaluation of moxidectin and its potential usefulness for the treatment of human onchocerciasis are discussed.