Parasitological and pathophysiological methods for selective application of anthelmintic treatments in goats

The global problem of anthelmintic resistance in small ruminants, and in particular in goats, ensures that attention also needs to be given to the sustainability of anthelmintic treatment regimes as well as to their immediate economic benefit. There is currently a general agreement to replace the practice of treating the whole flock with targeted selective treatments on specific animals in the farm. Indeed, the potential problem associated with whole flock strategic treatment is that they do not provide populations in refugia and thus can, in some circumstances, select for anthelmintic resistance. The challenge is to choose the best criterion to select animals, which depends on the epidemiology of parasites and the management system. The present paper reviews the parasitological (faecal egg count) and pathophysiological/performance (e.g. FAMACHA© and milk production) indicators most commonly used in goats with new insights for selective application of anthelmintic treatments.