No abstract

Gastrointestinal parasites represent an important cause of reduced productivity of sheep worldwide. As anthelmintic are still the main control tool for these parasites, this work evaluated the efficacy of commercially available active principles in 22 sheep flocks in the southern region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In each farm 10 sheep were randomly distributed in seven groups with the following treatments: abamectin; albendazole; closantel; levamisole; monepantel; trichlorphon and no anthelmintic (control). All flocks showed resistance to at least three anthelmintics and in 20 farms only two products demonstrated efficacy for parasitic control. In two farms, there was no susceptibility to the six active principles tested. The results of this study provide evidence that the common commercially available anthelmintic are not assuring effective chemical control of gastrointestinal parasitic infections in ovine flocks in the southern region of Rio Grande do Sul. Monepantel, the newest introduced drug in the Brazilian market was not effective in 18% of the flocks tested, confirming that the parasitic resistance can be established quickly after the introduction of new molecules mainly when alternative program of parasite control is not performed.Keywords: Sheep breeding, gastrointestinal nematodes, chemical control, resistance. ResumoAs parasitoses gastrintestinais representam importante causa de queda na produtividade na ovinocultura mundial. Como a utilização de anti-helmínticos é, ainda, a principal forma de controle parasitário, o presente estudo avaliou a eficácia de princípios ativos comercialmente disponíveis, em 22 rebanhos ovinos da região Sul do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Em cada propriedade foram utilizados 10 ovinos divididos em sete grupos que receberam os seguintes tratamentos: abamectina; albendazole; closantel; levamisole; monepantel; e triclorfon. Um grupo permaneceu como controle, sem tratamento anti-helmíntico. Nas 22 propriedades do estudo houve resistência, no mínimo, a três anti-helmínticos. Em 20 propriedades apenas dois produtos demonstraram eficácia para o controle parasitário. Em duas propriedades não houve sensibilidade aos seis princípios ativos testados. Os resultados do presente estudo demonstraram que os anti-helmínticos disponíveis no marcado Brasileiro não asseguram um controle parasitário efetivo nos rebanhos ovinos da região Sul do Rio Grande do Sul, incluindo o monepantel que foi ineficaz em 18% dos rebanhos testados, confirmando que a resistência dos parasitos aos princípios ativos pode se estabelecer rapidamente após a introdução de novas moléculas, principalmente quando programas alternativos de controle não são realizados.Palavras-chave: Ovinocultura, nematoides gastrintestinais, controle químico de parasitos, resistência.

ABSTRACT. The goal of this research was to evaluate the ability of the genotyping information available in the Brazilian Criollo Horse Stud Book to describe the genetic variability of the breed and the exclusion probability determined in comparative tests. Altogether, two softwares were used in the analyses of the available genotypes: Cervus 3.0.3 and Genepop 4.0. Eight microsatellite markers totaled 109 alleles, with an average of 13.6 ± 0.6 alleles per locus. Large differences between expected and observed heterozygosity were ubiquitous (0.821 ± 0.07 and 0.470 ± 0.17, respectively). Although the estimated null allele frequency caused initial concern (0.284 ± 0.199), it is likely that it was a reflection of the inbreeding coefficients found (0.432 ± 0.184). All loci showed significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, with heterozygote deficit (P < 0.0001) and genotypic linkage disequilibrium with at least one marker. The high polymorphic information content (0.798 ± 0.088) could not warrant exclusion power for three loci (HMS7, HMS6 and HTG4) above 50% (0.491 ± 0.158). However, combined exclusion probability reached 99.61%, a level close to ideal. The results demonstrate the excellent performance of the markers assessed in describing the genetic status of the breed and suggest the considerable ability to establish parentage.