Anthelmintic Resistance to Commonly Used Drugs in Naturally Infected Sheep in and Around Bekoji, Arsi Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia

A study aimed at assessing parasites control practices in use and to determine existence of gastro intestinal nematodes resistance for Albendazole, Tetraclozash and Ivermectin, in naturally infected sheep under field conditions in and around Bekoji Town. Sheep of both sexes were randomly selected from small holder farmers from different peasant associations were used for this study. Before administering of the drugs, screening was done to identify infected sheep with gastro-intestinal nematodes and eggs per grams (EPG) greater than 200 were eligible for inclusion in the field experiment following guidelines by Coles and his colleagues (1). Accordingly a total of 48 animals grouped into four treatment groups' of Albendazole, Tetraclozash, Ivermectin and Control (i.e. left untreated). Albendazole, Tetramisole and Ivermectin were found 90.53%, 98.1% and 96.59 % respectively. The percentage reduction of fecal egg counts (FECs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), for Albendazole, Tetraclozash and Ivermectin were 95.83 %( 95.1 - 84.4CI), 98.1 % (99 - 90.99CI) and 96.59 % (97.01 - 91.3CI) respectively. Based on this findings Albendazole is resistant to the parasites in the area and it was concluded that development of anthelmintic resistance could be prevented by avoid frequent and unnecessary treatments of this anthelmintic, optioning instead for strategic deworming.