Benzimidazole resistance in cyathostomes in horses in the Ukraine.

The research tested the effectiveness of cambendazole, a medication used to treat parasites in horses, on a farm in Ukraine. The study found that the treatment reduced the number of parasite eggs in the horses’ feces but didn’t completely eliminate them, suggesting that the parasites are developing resistance to the medicine.

Study Design and Participants

• The study was conducted on a farm in Dubrovka, Ukraine, where a total of 68 one-year-old horses participated.
• The researchers divided the horses into two groups. One group, consisting of 35 horses, received the treatment (cambendazole) while the other group of 33 horses served as controls and did not receive any treatment.

Measurements and Results

• The primary measurement in this study was the number of parasite eggs present in a gram (g-1) of the horses’ feces. This number was compared before and after the treatment in both groups.
• Before treatment, the mean number of eggs was 614 g-1 in the control group and 766 g-1 in the treated group.
• Externally, it was observed that the average number of eggs decreased to 580 g-1 in the control group and to 369 g-1 in the treated group after 14 days.
• Therefore, a relative reduction of 54.5% was found in the egg output in the horses that had received the treatment.
• The decrease in egg output indicates some effect of the treatment, but the presence of eggs after treatment suggests that a complete elimination was not possible.

Identification of Parasites and Conclusion

• After the treatment, the only identifiable larvae cultured from the feces were cyathostomes, a type of parasitic worm that infests the intestines of horses.
• The researchers interpreted these findings as evidence of benzimidazole (the class of drugs that includes cambendazole) resistance in cyathostomes in Ukraine.

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