Preliminary Observations of the Effect of Garlic on Egg Shedding in Horses Naturally Infected by Intestinal Strongyles.

The study aimed to investigate whether garlic could reduce the shedding of eggs in horses naturally infected with intestinal strongyles. The results indicate that the application of both fresh and dried garlic had no significant effect on egg shedding, and did not lead to any hematological changes in horses.

Research Objective

• The purpose of this research was to find out whether the administration of garlic (Allium sativum), a commonly used medicinal plant, could effectively reduce the shedding of eggs in horses infected with intestinal strongyles. The researchers pursued this line of inquiry due to the increasing resistance of these endoparasites to synthetic drugs.

Methodology

• The research took place on a trotter horse farm in Southern Italy. Fifteen female horses that showed a high fecal egg count (over 200 eggs per gram) were selected for the study. These horses were divided into three groups: the first group was given 40 grams of fresh crushed garlic daily for 15 days, the second group was given a daily supplementary food of 40 grams of dried garlic flakes for the same period, and the third group, acting as the control group, was not given any treatment.

Findings

• Two weeks after the horses began receiving the garlic treatments, fecal egg count reduction tests were carried out. The tests exhibited a failure of the garlic to reduce the shedding of the intestinal strongyles’ eggs, with the fresh garlic group showing a negative reduction of 11.7% and the dried garlic group showing a negative reduction of 19.4%. In other words, there was actually an increase in the number of eggs shed.
• The tests also measured the horses’ red blood cell count throughout the period of garlic administration, finding that the numbers remained within normal ranges, thereby indicating that short-term garlic supplementation doesn’t lead to any noticeable changes in horses’ hematological profile.

Conclusion

• Based on the findings, the study concluded that neither fresh nor dried garlic effectively reduced the shedding of eggs in horses infected with intestinal strongyles under the conditions studied. Thus, the researchers determined that the oral administration of garlic has no effect on this specific phenomenon.