Global perspectives on nematode parasite control in ruminant livestock: the need to adopt alternatives to chemotherapy, with emphasis on biological control

• Published in: Animal health research reviews Vol. 4; no. 1; pp. 35 - 44
• Main Author: Waller, Peter J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.06.2003
• Subjects: Animal Husbandry; Animal Husbandry - methods; animal parasitic nematodes; Animals; Animals, Domestic; Animals, Domestic - parasitology; anthelmintics; Antiparasitic agents; Biological control; biological control agents; cattle; Developmental stages; drug effects; Drug Resistance; drug therapy; goats; Grazing; Livestock; livestock and meat industry; methods; mycoses; Nematoda; Nematoda - drug effects; Nematoda - physiology; nematode control; nematode infections; Nematode Infections - parasitology; Nematode Infections - prevention & control; Nematode Infections - veterinary; Nematodes; Organic farming; Parasite control; parasitology; Pest Control, Biological; physiology; prevention & control; Ruminantia; Ruminants; Ruminants - parasitology; sheep; Sustainable agriculture; veterinary; Duddingtonia flagrans; biological control; enmatode parasites; livestock
• ISSN: 1466-2523; 1475-2654
• DOI: 10.1079/AHRR200350

Effective, sustainable control of nematode parasites of grazing livestock is becoming evermore challenging and difficult. This is largely due to two contrasting issues. One is the rapid escalation of resistance to anthelmintic drugs, which is arguably the greatest problem now facing the small ruminant industries worldwide. Secondly, there is the increasing trend towards organic farming, in which there is prohibition of the prophylactic use of all chemical compounds. Livestock producers urgently need non-chemotherapeutic alternatives in parasite control. Researchers have responded to this challenge and a variety of quite different approaches have been the subject of intense investigation in many countries for several decades now. These vary in relation to their stage of development for on-farm use, their utility, and their applicability across the spectrum of grazing livestock enterprises throughout the world. One relatively recent innovation is the biological control approach to nematode parasites. This has now reached the stage of commercialization. This review focuses on these issues and provides an overview of the possible ways in which the biological control of nematode parasites could be employed in grazing ruminant livestock systems worldwide.