Use of Thiabendazole-Medicated Feed for Prophylaxis of Four Common Roundworm Infections in Dogs

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Abstract
Thiabendazole, mixed into commercial dog food at concentrations of 0.005, 0.01, and 0.025%, was fed three times daily to young dogs which were exposed to infection with Toxocara canis, Ancylostoma braziliense, A. caninum, Strongyloides stercoralis, and Trichuris vulpis. All three levels of thiabendazole were effective in preventing patent infections of Ancylostoma and Toxocara. Hookworm eggs were never observed in the feces of dogs receiving any level of thiabendazole, nor were hookworm larvae ever recovered from cultures made from the feces of these dogs. Necropsy revealed that adult hookworms had developed only in the dogs receiving the lowest concentration of drug (0.005%); but supplementary studies indicated that infertile hookworms may develop in some dogs treated with 0.01 or 0.05% thiabendazole. The number of Strongyloidea larvae recovered from the feces of dogs fed thiabendazole was much less than in the case of the untreated, exposed controls; at 0.025% recovery was virtually nil. At necropsy, adult Strongyloides were found in all but one of the treated dogs, but their number was appreciably smaller than in the controls. In dogs fed 0.025% thiabendazole, prophylaxis of Trichuris was essentially complete. Thiabendazole at 0.01% had no effect on the number of whip-worms becoming established although the mean number of eggs produced was appreciably lower than in the controls. The feeding of 0.005% thiabendazole had no effect on the number of Trichuris eggs produced or the number of whipworms present at necropsy. TheTife cycles of 4 common intestinal parasites of the dog can thus be broken by the regular administration of thiabendazole in dog food. Since 3 of these helminths are pathogenic for man, these findings may have considerable public health importance.

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