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Veterinarians: Dewormer Resistance Must Be Addressed To Avert Equine Welfare Disaster

Though veterinarians and equine caretakers around the world have stressed the importance of forgoing the once-standard practice of rotational deworming, a recent study shows that dewormer resistance is still looming. Currently, small redworms and large roundworms are resistant to all available dewormers; no new dewormers are currently in creation.

Members of the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) anthelmintic working group wrote to the Veterinary Record to express their concern over the findings of a small-scale study. Dr. David Rendle and his colleagues state that a “anthelmintic resistance disaster” is looming unless horse owners change horse-keeping ways.

The study found that although there has been an uptick in the number of fecal worm egg counts (FWECs) performed, there has not been a corresponding downward trend in dewormer sales. The BEVA working group gathered information on the number of fecal worm egg counts completed and the sale of dewormers in the U.K. from 2015 to 2018.

Though FWECs increased by 29 percent, the doses of dewormer sold only fell by 2.9 percent over the same period. The sale of these drugs dropped 8 percent between 2015 and 2016, and then rose every year after that.

If the deworming guidelines were being followed correctly, and dewormers would only be given when a FWEC deemed them necessary. There should be at least twice as many FWECs completed as doses of dewormer sold. However, the data shows that there was only one FWEC completed for every 11 doses of dewormer sold.

The authors also point out that moxidectin sales remained high throughout the study period though experts have noted that it should not be used as a routine dewormer in horses.

Virtual Conference Focused On Disasters And Animals

The inaugural Global Animal Disaster Management Conference (GADMC) will be held on Feb. 15 through 24. It will bring together 50 experts from 16 countries together virtually to discuss considerations specific to animals during natural disasters.

Organized by Animal Evac New Zealand (https://www.animalevac.nz/), the free conference will include panels with leading animal emergency and disaster researchers, as well as with practitioners and academics. There will be both live and recorded webinars; recordings of the presentations will be available on the conference webpage by mid-2021. An audio-only, call-in option is also available.

The conference is geared toward emergency personnel, veterinary and wildlife professionals, farmers, those involved in rescue, and policy and law makers.

Equine-specific presenters include:

Dr. Leslie Irvine is a sociology professor and Director of the Animals and Society Certificate Program at the University of Colorado-Boulder. She has done extensive research on equine evacuation and Hurricane Katrina formed the basis for her book, Filling the Ark: Animal Welfare in Disasters.
Rebecca Husted, owner of Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue, offers training in large animal emergency rescue across the United States and abroad. She will provide a technical review of case studies of Large Animal Rescue on Feb. 16.
Dr. Susan Raymond and Victor MacPherson from Equine Guelph will present on Large Animal Rescue and Livestock Emergency Response Training and Best Practices on Feb. 24.

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Certificate Program To Assist Vets, Local Authorities During Disasters

Veterinarians rely heavily on first responders during national disasters, where hundreds or thousands of animals can be impacted. There is no training offered to vets for emergency planning or response at the local level; the vets often must rely solely on emergency management, extension agents and animal control officers to put a plan of action in place

Vets who volunteer as part of a local or regional disaster response team are often are frustrated with their inability to help immediately upon arrival. To streamline the process and build on the American Veterinary Medical Association's (AVMA) legacy in disaster relief, a certificate program for veterinary first responders is being created.

The American Veterinary Medical Foundation will provide $80,000 in funding for the program. The AVMA Committee on Disaster and Emergency Issues (CDEI) will identify competencies every vet responder should have. From there, organizations, including the AVMA and veterinary schools, can develop new or modify existing courses to satisfy one or more of the core competencies required for certificate completion.

The program will be overseen by Dr. Warren J. Hess, an assistant director in the AVMA Division of Animal and Public Health, who also serves as the AVMA's disaster coordinator. Hess noted that some vet schools are already providing disaster response training.

The program is expected to be fully operational by Spring 2022. Once a veterinarian or vet student completes courses that meet all core competencies, they will be issued the Basic Veterinary Responder Certificate. This certificate will reassure state and local agencies that the vets providing assistance at the scene of a disaster have the education and training required to work well within the response network.