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Dog parasite developing resistance to treatments

January 8, 2025 11:49 am in by
Photo: Willow the Whippet, River 949.

A warning to dog owners that parasites are becoming resistant to some de-worming treatments.

Researchers at the the University of Queensland and University of Sydney have found that 70 percent of hookworm samples had mutated to resistance against Benzimidazole drugs.

The drugs have long been considered the best weapons against canine hookworms.

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Dr Swaid Abdullah from UQ’s Veterinary School of Science Gatton said it’s occurring due to the constant use of Benzimidazole based worming treatments in the past 30 years.

“This class of worming treatment have been used for at least two to three decades, so this has allowed for these worms to develop resistance because we hit them with the same drug every month or every three months.

“Selection is a natural process in these worms but the more we treat them over time, the more the chance they will develop this resistance,” he said.

UQ Gatton researcher Dr Swaid Abdullah said that this should be a warning for pet owners to change their practises for de-worming before hookworms and other parasites become resistant to all treatments.

“Until today we thought that this would never happen in dogs, it was the protocol to keep dogs away from infection but now we have to change the way we treat our animals.

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“The treatment should be more targeted, dog owners need to test their animals and if they are not infected there’s no need to treat them.

“Another thing to keep in mind is after treating a dog for hookworms, it’s important to check at least once or twice a year for this infection in case the drug is not working,” Dr Abdullah said.

Hookworm infections can be dangerous for both humans and animals.

In dogs, hookworm infections primarily affect the small intestine leading to anaemia, diarrhoea, and malnutrition.

Puppies can die from severe hookworm infections.

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In people, hookworms from dogs can cause cutaneous larva migraines (CLM) disease – or ‘creeping eruption’ – which is a winding, snake-like rash with blisters and itching.

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