Evaluation of two intensive treatment schedules against Psoroptes ovis mange in Belgian blue cattle on nine Flemish farms

摘要

Psoroptic mange, caused by Psoroptes ovis, is a problem on many Flemish farms where Belgian blue beef cattle are bred. Two intensive treatment schedules were evaluated on nine Belgian blue fauns with a-persistent mange problem. On farms 1 to 7, all animals were treated twice (with a seven-to-ten-days interval) with an injectable macrocyclic lactone (ML), while on the two remaining fauns, the initial treatment consisted of one injection with the long acting (LA) formulation of moxidectin (10%). Skin scrapings were taken after treatment, and when living mites were found on at least one animal, all animals (farms 1 to 7) or only positive animals (farms 8 and 9) were treated consecutively with an injectable ML. On all farms, the treated animals were clinically healthy and P ovis free at the end of winter, after two to nine treatment rounds (two injections with a seven to ten-days interval or one LA injection). Although mange reappeared on the first seven farms after the subsequent grazing season, the disease was less severe and easier to control.