Fenbendazole treatment of pregnant bitches to reduce prenatal and lactogenic infections of Toxocara canis and Ancylostoma caninum in pups

A granulated formulation of fenbendazole was tested in a total of 23 treated and control, pregnant, parasite-free Beagle bitches experimentally infected with Toxocara canis and Ancylostoma caninum. The drug was administered to each treated bitch once daily in canned dog food at a dosage of 50 mg/kg body weight. Each of 2 treatment regimens tested was initiated on the 40th day of pregnancy. One regimen involved daily treatment continuing through the 14th postpartum day, and it resulted in 89% fewer ascarids and 99% fewer hookworms in pups born to medicated bitches, as compared with pups born to unmedicated controls. The other regimen of treatment, which was stopped on the day of parturition, was less effective in reducing ascarid and hookworm burdens (64% and 88% reductions, respectively). Three to 5 bitches from each of the treatment and control groups were allowed to whelp a 2nd litter without further treatment or further exposure to parasite infections. Hookworm burdens in 2nd-litter pups born of bitches that had initially received fenbendazole through the 14th postpartum day were significantly lower (P < 0.01; 85% reduction), when compared with the 2nd-litter control pups. All other parasite burdens were not significantly different. It was concluded that granulated fenbendazole is effective in reducing burdens of Ancylostoma caninum and Toxocara canis in newborn pups when the bitch is treated during the last third of pregnancy, especially when treatment (50 mg/kg/day) extends from the 40th day of pregnancy through the 14th postpartum day.     

Pathogenicity of various isolates of Alcaligenes faecalis for broilers

Day-old broilers or specific-pathogen-free chickens were inoculated intranasally with approximately 1 X 10(8) organisms of eight different field isolates of Alcaligenes faecalis. Major differences in the pathogenicity of isolates and their ability to colonize the trachea were found. Only two isolates (Wilson and Lockamy) produced mild clinical signs of respiratory disease ("snicking," dyspnea). The same two also colonized the respiratory tract, especially the trachea, in large numbers; they persisted for 31 days. Of the remaining six isolates, five were also able to colonize the respiratory tract but did so to a lesser degree and less persistently, without causing clinical signs. Only one isolate (CS) was incapable of becoming established in the respiratory tract of chicks after intranasal inoculation.