Therapeutic and prophylactic efficacy of morantel when administered directly into the rumen of cattle on a continuous basis.

The efficacy of morantel tartrate when administered on a continuous basis directly into the rumen/reticulum of cattle, either by a cannula or from a specially designed device, was evaluated against gastrointestinal parasites under laboratory conditions. In two experiments the continuous infusion of morantel at rates between 0.26 and 1.04 mg/kg body weight per day using a peristaltic pump was highly efficacious in both preventing the establishment of infections and removing established infections of the following species: Ostertagia ostertagi, Haemonchus contortus, Cooperia oncophora and Trichostrongylus colubriformis. The same dose rates also prevented establishment of Dictyocaulus viviparus infection but were ineffective against established infections of this parasite. In another two experiments the continuous release of morantel tartrate for at least 60 days (at rates between 0.65 and 1.11 mg/kg body weight per day) from a specially designed intraruminal sustained release bolus (secured at each end by a polyethylene impregnated semi-permeable membrane) was highly efficacious in both preventing the establishment of infections and removing established infections of the following species: O. ostertagi, T. axei, T. colubriformis and C. oncophora.