Effects of praziquantel and metrifonate on Schistosoma bovis infections in Sudanese cattle.
Twelve nine-month-old zebu calves were each experimentally infected with 10,000 Schistosoma bovis cercariae. Four were treated orally with 20 mg/kg praziquantel at weeks 9 and 14 after infection, and four were treated orally three times with metrifonate at week 11 (25 mg/kg) and again at week 14 (50 mg/kg). Praziquantel proved to be highly effective, reducing faecal egg counts near to zero; the mean live worm count in the treated calves at week 16 was only 32, compared to 2850 in the untreated group, a reduction of 98.9 per cent. In contrast, metrifonate treatment caused only a very short-lived, partial reduction in faecal egg counts, and no reduction in live worm counts.
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D007546:Isoquinolines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010270:Parasite Egg Count / Q000662:veterinary; D011223:Praziquantel / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012547:Schistosoma / Q000187:drug effects; D012552:Schistosomiasis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D012556:Schistosomicides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013397:Sudan; D014236:Trichlorfon / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D007546:Isoquinolines; D012556:Schistosomicides; D011223:Praziquantel; D014236:Trichlorfon