World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (W.A.A.V.P.) guidelines for evaluating the efficacy of equine anthelmintics.

The research article provides guidelines on how to evaluate the effectiveness of drugs used in treating internal parasites in horses, including non-helminth parasites.

About the Guidelines

• The World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (W.A.A.V.P.) created these guidelines to provide a structured approach for conducting and interpreting studies intended to assess the efficacy of equine anthelmintics.
• While the guidelines predominantly discuss anthelmintics (drugs intended to kill helminths or parasitic worms), they also cover studies on the efficacy of drugs against larvae of horse bot flies (Gasterophilus spp).

Contents and Utility

• The guidelines offer information about the pros and cons of using critical and controlled tests, as well as their practical applications.
• Information is also available on a variety of aspects involved in conducting such studies. These include the selection of animals, housing arrangements, feed, dose titration, conducting confirmatory and clinical trials, record-keeping and necropsy procedures.
• The guidelines function as a valuable tool for researchers and registration authorities alike. They allow for the comparative evaluation of compounds using a standard and replicable approach that minimises the number of animals required.

Significance

• By following these guidelines, researchers can ensure that the results of studies assessing the efficacy of equine anthelmintics are reliable and consistent across various studies.
• They also offer a reference point for registration authorities to evaluate and approve new drugs based on comprehensive and comparable data, thus ensuring high standards in the market for equine anthelmintic drugs.