The high prevalence of resistance of Haemonchus contortus to all major anthelmintic groups has prompted investigations into alternative control methods in South Africa, including the use of copper oxide wire particle (COWP) boluses. To assess the efficacy of COWP against H. contortus in indigenous South African goats, 18 male faecal egg-count-negative goats were each given ca.1200 infective lar...

Profitable sheep and goat production in the USA is severely limited by gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) parasitism, particularly by Haemonchus contortus. Copper oxide wire particles (COWP) have anti-parasitic properties in the diet of small ruminants, but efficacy of COWP may differ between sheep and goats. In a study with weaned kids (Kiko x Spanish cross, 6 months old) and lambs (Katahdin or D...

Improved methods for detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in environmental and clinical samples are urgently needed to improve detection of cryptosporidiosis. We compared the sensitivity of 7 PCR primer sets for detection of Cryptosporidium parvum. Each target gene was amplified by PCR or nested PCR with serially diluted DNA extracted from purified C. parvum oocysts. The target genes included C...

A study was conducted to examine the duration of anthelmintic effect of copper oxide wire particles (COWP) in grazing goats, as data for the persistence of efficacy of COWP in this host species is limited. Forty-eight indigenous male goats were infected naturally by grazing them on Haemonchus contortus-infected pasture. When the faecal egg count (FEC) in the goats was 3179 ± 540 eggs per gram o...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence Cryptosporidium infection and potential for transmission spp. between animals humans in northern Vietnam. A total 2715 samples (2120 human diarrheal samples, 471 non-diarrheal 124 animal stool samples) were collected through our community survey an agricultural area. All tested by direct immunofluorescence assay (DFA) using a fluoresce...

Samples of whole feces in which Cryptosporidium oocysts were recognized by hospital laboratories were collected from 218 patients with diarrhea. All samples were reexamined by light microscopy, and oocysts were detected in 211 samples. A simple and rapid procedure for the extraction of DNA from whole feces was developed, and this was used to amplify fragments of the Cryptosporidium outer wall p...

Cryptosporidium sp. cervine genotype could possibly emerge as an important human pathogen because current evidence suggests this genotype has a wide host range and zoonotic potential. However, there is confusion in the taxonomy of the Cryptosporidium sp. cervine genotype because different names have been used to refer to this genotype in previous studies and in sequences submitted to GenBank. C...

Coccidian parasites are transmitted via a fecal oocyst stage that is exceptionally resistant to environmental stress and harsh chemical treatments, which allows parasites to stably persist outside a host. Because of its oocyst durability Cryptosporidium parvum is a significant water- and food-borne pathogen of humans, as well as animals of agricultural importance. To date, only one apicomplexan...

A pen study was conducted to assess the effect of providing daily copper mineral supplement, or copper wire particle (COWP) capsules, on established or incoming mixed nematode infections in young sheep. For lambs with established (6 week old) infections, COWP resulted in 97% and 56% reduction of the adult and early L4 stages of H. contortus, respectively, compared with controls (p<0.001). Addit...

Haemonchosis is considered to be the most economically important gastrointestinal disease of small ruminants in the tropics and subtropics. However, chemical anthelmintics, which were the mainstay of control, have been compromised by a high prevalence of resistance worldwide. Copper oxide wire particles (COWP) have been shown to have anthelmintic effects, but few studies have examined their use...