Samples wanted for Ontario cattle parasite resistance survey

Photo: Debra Murphy, 2014

Have cattle? A project through the Ontario Veterinary College and supported by the Ontario Animal Health Network Bovine Group is looking for your manure. Well, more specifically, a project led by Dr. Jessica Gordon of OVC is looking to assess gastrointestinal parasite loads in grazing cattle.

The project is open to Ontario producers with grazing animals (calves, heifers, backgrounded animals, etc.) and cattle owners can participate through their herd veterinarian. All Ontario veterinarians have been provided with submission forms to send the samples to the Animal Health Lab in Guelph at no cost, according to the OAHN.

The herd veterinarian can either collect the samples or give instructions on how to properly collect feces for the test. It’s essential to make sure the samples represent the group; it should be noted. Fecal egg count results will be made available to those who participate.

Dr. Gordon’s team is also looking for some herds with higher levels of parasites for follow up and additional sampling. This will involve a short visit to the farm to collect fresh samples for testing and to ask about deworming practices. These samples will be used to identify the parasites genetically and to look for dewormer resistance.

Submissions are being accepted through to September, or when the target number of samples is achieved.

If this is of interest to you, please contact your veterinarian.

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