Abstract：
Gastrointestinal helminths are ubiquitous in horse populations across the world. Intensive anthelmintic treatments have succeeded in controlling some of the pathogenic effects of these parasites. However, the success of anthelmintic drugs has been threatened by the development of widespread resistance to those most commonly used. To develop improved control strategies, information on helminth distribution patterns is needed, which can be obtained by identifying animals regarded as high egg shedders and taking age, gender, and other risk factors into account. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of helminth infection in the Irish equine population using faecal egg counts and to evaluate the effects of risk factors on these faecal egg counts. For the 2700 horses that were included in the study, the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminth infection was 52.40%, 4.22%, 2.59%, and 0.89% for strongyle species, Parascaris spp., Anoplocephala spp., and Strongyloides westeri, respectively. Overall, strongyle faecal egg counts from 159 farms averaged 250.22 eggs per gram. Both age and season had significant effects on strongyle egg shedding. In conclusion, this study revealed high prevalence of strongyle worm infection in horses on Irish farms, which highlights the need to optimize and develop good management practices and strategic deworming.
摘要：
胃肠道蠕虫在世界各地的马种群中无处不在。强化驱虫治疗已成功地控制了这些寄生虫的一些致病作用。然而,驱虫药的成功受到对最常用药物的广泛耐药性发展的威胁。制定改进的控制策略，需要有关蠕虫分布模式的信息，这可以通过识别被认为是高卵脱落者的动物和年龄来获得，性别,以及其他风险因素。这项研究的目的是使用粪便卵数确定爱尔兰马种群中蠕虫感染的患病率，并评估危险因素对这些粪便卵数的影响。对于纳入研究的2700匹马，胃肠道蠕虫感染的患病率为52.40%，4.22%，2.59%,和0.89%的strongyle物种，Parascarisspp.,无头孢属物种。,和斯特龙圆鸟，分别。总的来说,159个农场的strongyle粪便卵数平均为每克250.22个卵。年龄和季节对强壮卵脱落有显着影响。总之,这项研究显示，在爱尔兰农场的马匹中，强病毒蠕虫感染的患病率很高，这突出了优化和发展良好管理做法和战略驱虫的必要性。
