Field evaluation of moxidectin/praziquantel oral gel in horses.

This study investigated the safety and effectiveness of an oral gel combination of moxidectin and praziquantel in treating parasitic infections in horses. The medication was found to be safe and greatly reduced the presence of certain parasites.

Research Methodology

• The researchers conducted a field study on 400 client-owned horses. Of these, 300 treated with a gel mixture of 2% moxidectin and 12.5% praziquantel, administered at a dose of 0.4mg moxidectin and 2.5mg praziquantel per kg of body weight.
• The remaining 100 horses were treated with a vehicle gel without any active components, to serve as a control group.
• Fecal samples were collected from all horses for parasitic egg count.

Blinding Procedure

• To prevent any bias, both investigators and horse owners were kept uninformed about the treatment designation of each horse. This kind of blinding procedure is common in scientific studies to allow for objective analysis of results.

Results and Findings

• No adverse reactions were observed in the horses treated with the moxidectin/praziquantel gel, indicating its safety for use.
• Results showed a reduction of more than 99% in Anoplocephala spp, a genus of tapeworm that commonly infects horses. Similarly, the medication also caused a significant reduction (over 98%) in the strongyle egg count. Strongyles are internal parasites found in the digestive tract of horses.
• The reduction in parasitic egg count was statistically significant, indicating it was not due to chance (P<0.05).

Conclusion

• The findings of this study demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the oral gel containing moxidectin and praziquantel in treating parasitic infections in horses under field conditions. The results showed that the medication greatly reduced the presence of Anoplocephala spp and strongyle eggs.