[Inquiry of veterinarians in Niedersachsen concerning the occurrence of parasitic diseases and their control in large animals].

In Lower Saxony approximately 3500 veterinarians were asked to fill in a questionnaire focused on the prevalence of parasitic infections in cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses, the preferred control measures and the antiparasitic drugs in use. Although the disappointing low number of only 48 veterinarians that participated in this survey prevented any representative conclusions the following trends were remarkable: gastrointestinal strongyles were the most prevalent parasites in cattle (34.8%), sheep (28.0%), and horses (42.3%). In pigs, ascarids were most often diagnosed (41.9%) followed by the strongyles (27.9%). Horse strongyles were stated as parasites causing problems by 40.0% of the veterinarians. Prophylactic measures are performed by most practitioners alone or in addition to therapy in the case of lungworms or gastrointestinal strongyles. Therapeutic application of anthelmintics is broadly in use against cestodes in horses (65.0%) and liver flukes (cattle: 41.7%, sheep: 33.3%, horse: 57.1%). Benzimidazoles represent the dominating group of anthelmintics in sheep (78.3%), horses (42.1%), and pigs (42.0%). In cattle, ivermectin (27.7%) and benzimidazoles (26.5%) are regularly used. The role of pyrantel is largely restricted to the control of helminths in horses (24.2%) whereas levamisole is stated as a frequently applied drug in cattle (20.5%), pigs (12.0%), and sheep (2.7%). The diagnosis of parasites relies generally on coproscopical examination (93.7%) which is mostly performed by the practitioners themselves (51.1%). In general, the traditional diagnostic tools are regarded as adequate. Approximately 50% of the practitioners declare their interest in a support of veterinary herd management by parasitological institutes.