E¤cacy of Copper Oxide Needles for the Control of Nematode Parasites in Dairy Goats C. Chartier 1 *, E. Etter 1 , H. Hoste 2 , I. Pors 1 , C. Koch 3 and B. Dellac 4 1 AFSSA Niort, Laboratoire de recherches caprines, 60 rue de Pied de Fond, B.P. 3081, 79012 Niort Cedex; 2 Unite¨ associe¨ e INRA-ENVT, Ecole Nationale Ve¨ te¨ rinaire, 23 Chemin des Capelles, 31076 Toulouse Cedex; 3 INRA-Tours, Station de Pathologie Aviaire et de Parasitologie, 37380 Monnaie; 4 Bayer-Pharma, Division Sante¨ Animale, 49^51 Quai de Dion Bouton, 92815 Puteaux Cedex, France *Correspondence: E-mail: c.chartier@niort.afssa.fr Chartier, C., Etter, E., Hoste, H., Pors, I., Koch, C. and Dellac, B., 2000. E¤cacy of copper oxide needles for the control of nematode parasites in dairy goats. Veterinary Research Communications, 24(6), 389^399 ABSTRACT The spread of benzimidazole-resistant nematodes in dairy goat farms is of a great concern as probably more than 70% of the £ocks are involved. As there are very few other anthelmintic options during the lactating period, we have evaluated the e¤cacy of copper oxide needles (CON, Copinox, Bayer, UK) in both experimental and natural infections in goats. The curative e¡ect of CON (2^4 g) on existing worm burdens was assessed in goats experimentally infected with Teladorsagia circumcincta, Haemonchus contortus and Trichostrongylus colubriformis, compared to controls. The preventive e¡ect of CON (4 g) on worm establishment was monitored for 2 months in animals experimentally infected with H. contortus and for 3 months in naturally infected animals on a farm exhibiting predominant infections with T. circumcincta and Oesophagostomum venulosum. In both experimental and natural conditions, the e¤cacy of CON was nil against Teladorsagia, Trichostrongylus and Oesophagostomum infections. In contrast, the e¤cacy of CON against Haemonchus was clearly established in reducing the worm burden (75%) as well as in lowering the egg output (37^95%) in relation to the establishment of new infections over several weeks. Copper oxide needles may represent an alternative to conventional anthelmintics in the control of Haemonchus infection in some goat farms. Keywords: anthelmintic, copper oxide, gastrointestinal nematodes, goat, Haemonchus contortus Abbreviations: CON, copper oxide needles; epg, eggs per gram INTRODUCTION Gastrointestinal nematode parasitism of dairy goats results in reduced milk production and milk fat content (Hoste and Chartier, 1993; Chartier and Hoste, 1994). Although zero grazing is being increasingly practised, nematode control has relied largely on the use of anthelmintics. However, the farmers often misuse these drugs. Alternation between the di¡erent families of anthelmintics is infrequent and under-dosage related both to poor weight evaluation and unsuitable dose rates is very common. In addition, since goats develop relatively little resistance to gastrointestinal nematodes, farmers tend to treat them very frequently with anthelmintics. These three factors are well Veterinary Research Communications, 24 (2000) 389^399 # 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands 389