Outlaw internal parasites

Registered pursuant to the
ACVM Act 1997, No. A10375

Gastrointestinal nematode parasitism is one of the most important production limiting diseases of sheep and cattle in New Zealand.

For years the use of anthelmintic drench has been the most effective way to control worms; unfortunately good things don't always last forever. The development of resistance to some drench active ingredients means that many farms could easily be using a drench that still leaves worms behind.

The worms left behind are commonly referred to as 'silent thieves' for the reason that they can cause production losses that go undetected. This is because gastrointestinal parasitism can be classed as either clinical or subclinical.

Clinically affected animals are easy to identify as they show more obvious symptoms including illthrift, scours, anaemia and weight loss. It is the subclinically affected animals which pose the greatest challenge to farmers as they are more difficult to identify. While clinical parasitism is associated with animal losses, it is the subclinical animals bearing low levels of infection which can result in the greater economic loss for farms - with decreases in weight gain and depression in milk production.

It is, therefore, vital that farmers develop an integrated and individual approach to minimise the impact of internal parasites on the health of their stock.

Using combination drenches has been highly recommended for some time, but for cattle farmers it is often a difficult recommendation to follow. Oral combinations are difficult to administer to anything other than very young animals, so the tendency has been to rely on single active endectocides. While this practice is still proving effective for some farms, on others it has led to the development of Cooperia which are resistant to existing broad-spectrum endectocides.

To combat and delay internal parasite resistance, Bayer Animal Health has launched a new combination pour-on for cattle named Outlaw. Outlaw contains abamectin and levamisole to combat internal parasite resistance. Abamectin is a potent broad spectrum endectocide while levamisole, also a broad spectrum anthelmintic, provides highly effective control of Cooperia - including strains which are resistant to other endectocides like doramectin and eprinomectin.

Outlaw is an excellent option for those farmers wishing to delay the onset of resistance, where they are concerned about the effectiveness of their current drench or where single active endectocides have been used extensively on their properties for some time.

Outlaw worms on your farm with Bayer Outlaw, available from RD1 stores nationwide.