Efficacy of ivermectin and doramectin in ponies naturally infected with strongyle worms

Twelve adult ponies of either sex naturally infected with strongyle worms of various genera (Strongylus sp., Cyathostoma sp. and Triodontophorus sp.) were randomly divided into 3 groups of five, five and two animals, i.e. group I, II and III, respectively. The animals of group I and II were injected with single dose of ivermectin and doramectin @ 200 μg kg⁻¹ s/c, respectively where as group III animals were kept as naturally infected untreated control. Although both ivermectin and doramectin were found to be 100% effective against strongyle worms but doramectin was found to cause faster faecal egg count reduction (FECR), as compared to ivermectin. On day 3 post-treatment, doramectin treated group showed 50% but the ivermectin treated group only 38.24% FECR. Similarly, on day 7 post-treatment in doramectin treated group, the FECR was 89.29% where as in ivermectin treated group, it was only 85.30%. On day 10 post-treatment in both the groups, 100% FECR was observed. Both the drugs were found to be safe both from general physical appearance and general behaviour point of view of the animals up to ten days after treatment.