The effects of five anthelmintic treatment regimens on milk production in goats naturally infected by gastrointestinal nematodes

A study was carried out in Southern Italy on 90 Siriana breed goats with naturally occurring infections of gastrointestinal nematodes. Six similar groups of 15 goats were formed, one untreated control group and five groups treated once with ivermectin (I treatment) and once with netobimin (II treatment) at different times. Daily milk volume (ml) was recorded fortnightly for each animal for the whole lactation period. All the treated groups showed a total milk production that was statistically higher than that of the control group, and four of these groups showed at least one fortnightly measurement in which differences from the corresponding values of the control group were statistically significant (P<0.05). The best treatment timing seemed to be October-May, followed by February-June, December-May, and February-May

An updating on Cryptosporidium parvum in the water buffalo

A cross-sectional survey of Cryptosporidium parvum infection in the water buffalo was carried out in central Italy. The survey was carried out on a sample of 90 farms, selected using a grid approach within a Geographical Information System, followed by proportional allocation. On each farm, faecal samples were collected from three to five asymptomatic buffalo calves, aged from 1 to 9 weeks (total number = 347). Each sample was tested for the presence of copro-antigens of C. parvum using a commercially available ELISA. Out of the 90 farms, 22 (24.4%) resulted positive. With respect to animals, out of the 347 faecal samples, 51 (14.7%) were found to have antigens of C. parvum. The results of the logistic regression model showed a positive association between the positivity to C. parvum and the high number of buffaloes on farms