Monthly administrations of milbemycin oxime plus afoxolaner chewable tablets to prevent Angiostrongylus vasorum infection in dogs. Issue 1 (December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lebon, Wilfried; Tielemans, Eric; Rehbein, Steffen; Dumont, Pascal; Yoon, Stephen; Beugnet, Fredéric; Jeannin, Philippe; Larsen, Diane; Halos, Lénaïg
• Is Part Of: Parasites & vectors. Volume 9:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 8
• Publication Date: 2016-12
• Subjects: Angiostrongylus vasorum -- Prevention -- Dog -- Afoxolaner -- Milbemycin oxime; Parasitism -- Periodicals; Parasites -- Periodicals; Vector-pathogen relationships -- Periodicals; Animals as carriers of disease -- Periodicals; Insects as carriers of disease -- Periodicals; 616.96
• DOI: 10.1186/s13071-016-1773-1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1756-3305

Abstract

Abstract Background Infection of dogs with the cardiopulmonary nematodeAngiostrongylus vasorum may result in severe clinical disease therefore adequate prevention is necessary. A randomized, negative control, blinded study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy in the prevention of canineA. vasorum infection after monthly administrations of NexGard Spectra®, a novel chewable tablet formulation combining the insecticide and acaricide afoxolaner and the anthelmintic milbemycin oxime, in a multiple challenge (trickle infection) model. Methods Twenty beagle dogs were challenged orally with doses of approximately 32–43 third-stage larvae ofA. vasorum once every other week on seven occasions (Study Days -7, 7, 21, 35, 49, 63 and 77). Ten dogs were administered NexGard Spectra® as close as possible to the minimum recommended dose of afoxolaner and milbemycin oxime, i.e. 2.5 mg/kg body weight and 0.5 mg/kg body weight, respectively, four times at monthly intervals (Study Days 0, 28, 56 and 84) while the remaining ten dogs served as untreated controls. For parasite recovery and count, dogs were euthanized humanely and necropsied six to eight days following the last treatment (Study Days 90–92). Beginning six weeks after first inoculation, faeces were collected on a bi-weekly basis and examined for first-stage larvae ofA. vasorum . Results Untreated dogs harboured 39–95 adultA. vasorum (geometric mean, 66.4), while zero to 24 adultA. vasorum were recovered from the treated dogs (geometric mean, 3.4;P < 0.0001). Thus, efficacy of NexGard Spectra® administered at monthly intervals against incomingA. vasorum was 94.9 %. Compared to the untreated controls, larval excretion of the treated dogs was reduced by 99.9 % (P < 0.0001). Conclusion Results of this study demonstrate that NexGard Spectra®, when administered at monthly intervals, can effectively prevent canineA. vasorum infection.