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Virbac Australia releases recommended guidelines for a successful sheep worm program

Announcement posted by Virbac Australia Pty Ltd 20 Apr 2018

For farmers wishing to maximise their sheep productivity and profitability this season, an effective parasite management program is vital – as animal health company Virbac Australia explains.
 
The best approach to tackling worms brings together a range of chemical and non-chemical methods, and Virbac has just released some key guidelines to assist farmers:
 
Breeding for worm resistance
 
Genetic selection is one effective method to increase a sheep’s resistance and resilience to worms. Resistance can result in fewer drenches being required each year, and resilient sheep are much better able to tolerate worms.
 
Rams with better-than-average worm resistance can help to create better overall genetic resistance in a flock – and so Virbac recommends looking at Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBV) (which estimate the genetic potential a sheep will pass on to its progeny) to select rams and ewes that will genetically improve their flocks. That means choosing studs with Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBV) for worm egg counts (WEC ASBV) and dag (DAG ASBV).
 
Virbac also recommends including selection against DAG if scouring is an issue, and also ensuring that selection for worm resistance and DAG is balanced with other performance traits.
 
Grazing management practices
 
Effective grazing management reduces the exposure of sheep to worms. There are three basic rules to follow; avoid paddocks heavily contaminated with worm larvae, reduce contamination of paddocks with worm eggs, and alternate graze periods with rest periods, to allow enough time for most of the eggs and larvae on the pasture to die (usually 40-80 days).
 
Alternating grazing between cattle and sheep is another effective means of reducing worm infection, because most worms are host-specific (with the exception of the barber’s pole worm and stomach hairworm, which can successfully reproduce within both sheep and young cattle).
 
Be proactive, not reactive
 
Faecal egg counts can be one of the best weapons to help monitor the incidence, type and levels of infection. Worm egg counts enable farmers to determine whether drenching is necessary in the first place, the effectiveness of a drench program, and also to monitor worm resistance levels. Used strategically at key times, faecal egg counts enable farmers to get ahead of the problem and take a proactive approach, rather than waiting until worms proliferate in their livestock.
 
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Incorporate combination drenches into your program
 
With resistance to treatment becoming an increasing problem, non-chemical worm-prevention methods are a useful first step – and when it comes to chemical-based worm-management, it’s important to be aware that different sheep drench products can vary dramatically in their efficacy.
 
The type of drench a farmer uses can make a huge difference in a worm control program’s success – as Virbac Australia Sheep Product Manager Terrance Loughlin explains:
 
“One of the most challenging issues for farmers is the decline in effectiveness of single active drenches. A traditional method of maintaining single active drench efficacy was to rotate between drenches. However, this strategy has now been surpassed, with the advent of three-way combination drenches. The benefit of three-way combination drenches is that the chance of a worm having gene-resistance to a drench containing three active ingredients is much lower than being resistant to just one. This leaves fewer resistant worms to reproduce, minimising any further resistance development.”
 
Virbac believes there is a place for highly effective single active drenches, provided they’re used alongside combination drenches in a tailored program. These combination drenches should, where possible, include actives that are still effective on a property. In the absence of knowing drench effectiveness, farmers are advised to use a drench with highly potent actives.
 
Higher potency, higher kill rate
 
Quite simply, high potency products work better. That’s because they create a higher kill rate, which means fewer worms and eggs, as well as less pasture contamination. This reduces the overall requirement for increased drenching, driving improved long-term sustainability.
 
Within the macrocyclic class of drenches, moxidectin has proven to be the most potent active. Moxidectin potency is derived from pharmacodynamics that are different to other ML actives. 
 
Tridectin – the backbone of a successful drench program
 
Virbac recently launched Tridectin, a new class of combination drench backed by the power of moxidectin, and developed with micellar technology, for improved efficacy.
 
Tridectin is designed to provide maximum protection against highly resistant worms, being the only combination drench in Australia to include moxidectin, the most potent and persistent mectin. Tridectin is the only drench in the world with registered claims against triple resistant and monepantel resistant worms. Terrance Loughlin explains exactly how it works:
 
“This new drench is unique in being a pre-mixed broad-spectrum combination of moxidectin, albendazole and levamisole. The micellar technology helps to improve the pharmacokinetics of the drench, making it more effective, because it reaches higher concentrations faster and is retained in the sheep for longer.
 
“Using advanced chemistry, we’ve been able to combine Moxidectin with Levamisole and Albendazole, for improved efficacy.”
 
Its unique combination provides a more sustainable solution, because the product also delivers a higher kill rate, which means fewer worms and eggs, resulting in less pasture contamination and thereby minimising the development of resistance.
 
Tridectin also has a shorter-than-usual ESI of just 17 days (much shorter than other combination drenches), and it continues working for up to 14 days, against moxidectin-sensitive strains of barber’s pole worm and small brown stomach worm, making it the only combination drench to provide sustained protection against these two highly prevalent species of worms.
 
Terrance explains that farmers who drench using Tridectin will also reduce the requirement for regular drenching. “This helps delay the development of resistance, with the end result being healthier, more productive sheep, and increased productivity and profit.”
 
Tridectin is suitable Australia-wide, for use at any time of the year, and is available in rural merchandise stores across the country.
 
To learn more about Tridectin, and to arrange for a Virbac animal health professional to develop a sheep drench program specific to your property, visit au.virbac.com/backbone.
 
Ends.

Media Enquiries:
Kate Munsie - C7EVEN COMMUNICATIONS
(02) 6766 4513 / 0421 935 843
kate.munsie@c7even.com.au
 
Adam Arndell - C7EVEN COMMUNICATIONS
(02) 6766 4513 / 0403 372 889
adam.arndell@c7even.com.au
 
 
Photo captions:
  1. Drenching sheep with Tridectin
  2. Sheep in paddock