A national questionnaire survey of helminth control practices on horses in Italy – preliminary results

A national survey to obtain information of helminth control practices on horses and farm management was carried out in 2014 in Italy. Data were collected using 387 face-to-face questionnaire with questions regarding type and size of farms, use of horses, grazing management, parasite control protocol, interval worming, time of treatments, number of treatments per year, anthelmintic class used, specific treatments (tapeworms and encysted cyathostomins). In tolal, data of 7,616 horses were obtained In Italy, most control protocols were strategic. Sixty eight percent of respondents administered anthelmintics at particular times of the year. With respect to worming intervals, most of them (45%) treated animals at 6 months intervals and 4% wormed horses bi-monthly. Six percent of respondents declared that they left animals untreated. With regard to the time of treatment administration, most reported that dosing was carried out independently from the season, although someone emphasized a greater attention to dosing during autumn and spring months. The mean number of treatments per year was 2.6 (range 1-12). Over half (64%) of respondents indicated that ivermectin and moxidectin or their associations (e.g plus praziquantel) were the most commonly used anthelmintics in the previous 12 months. Treatments against cyathostomin encysted larvae and tapeworms were administered by 11% and 21% of respondents, respectively. Most owners obtained information on parasite control from veterinarians (93%), in addition to specialized journals and internet forums in decreasing order of importance. This is the first national survey investigating parasite control practices and anthelmintic use in horses