Treatment of inhibited Dictyocaulus viviparus in cattle with ivermectin

Fifteen calves, each infected with approximately 3000 third stage larvae, were used to compare the tendencies of two strains of Dictyocaulus viviparus to inhibit at the fifth larval stage and to evaluate the efficacy of ivermectin. There were notable differences between the strains. While greater than 99% of worms developing from infection with an Alpine strain remained inhibited 42 days after infection, only 0-26% of those recovered following infection with a U.K. laboratory strain were arrested. Neither adult nor immature D. viviparus were present in the lungs of animals treated with ivermectin subcutaneously at 200 micrograms/kg body weight 28 days after infection with the Alpine larvae.