Potential of alcoholic extract of Azadirachta indica bark as anthelmintic in sheep

Alcoholic extract from Azadirachta indica bark was evaluated in vitro for anthelmintic activity against pre-parasitic and parasitic stages of Haemonchus contortus. No anthelmintic activity was noticed against exogenous stages of H. contortus on in vitro assays. However, oral administration of alcoholic extract of A. indica bark (@ 50 mg kg⁻¹ body weight) was found to cause gradual reduction (2.4–48.2%) in faecal egg count in sheep experimentally infected with H. contortus. The corrected faecal egg count reductions on day 7 and 10 post treatment were 44.1 and 56.9%, respectively, indicating presence of moderate level of anthelmintic property in the extract.