title: Faecal egg count reduction test for assessing anthelmintic efficacy: average versus individually based estimations.
abstract: The faecal egg count reduction (FECR) in faeces is the most widely used method to assess the efficacy of anthelmintics against gastrointestinal strongyles. Several methods are used and they yield different efficacy values. They give important weight to those animals which excrete the majority of eggs, before or after treatment. We propose using individual animal FECR tests that give equal weight to every tested host. The first method is based on a before and after treatment without untreated controls, whereas the second one takes into account the use of non-treated control hosts. Confidence interval at P = 0.95 were established on bootstrap resamples for both individual-based methods. The individual-based FECR presented lower values than the average-based FECR in most cases. The individual FECR provided reliable evaluation when egg counts were over 300 eggs/g and when at least 10 animals were tested.
authors.affiliation: INRA, BASE, Ecology and Genetics of Parasites, 37380 Nouzilly, France. cabaret@tours.inra.fr
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cabaret
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Berrag
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000469:parasitology*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D010270:Parasite Egg Count / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000469:parasitology*; D017206:Strongylida Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D013323:Strongylus / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D000871:Anthelmintics