Barber's Pole Worm Research Paper

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There are two different types of worms or parasites that can affect animals, in relation to this report the focus will be on parasites that affect sheep. They are called endoparasites and ectoparasites. This report will predominately emphasise on the endoparasites, or the internal parasites. These endoparasites are divided into three categories; nematodes [or roundworms], cestodes, [or tapeworms] and trematodes [or flukes]. The parasites are broken into these groupings due to their structure. Internal parasites damage the health of sheep, causing significant production losses. This report will look in detail at the effects of Barbers Pole worm [Haemonchus contortus], an endoparasite that comes under the roundworm category [see figure 2]. Barbers Pole Worm is one of the most common endoparasites in south east Queensland as the environment is subtropical. They thrive in warm and moist environmental conditions, thus being abundant in Queensland. Haemonchus contortus requires these warm temperatures and moist conditions to enable eggs to hatch and larvae on pasture to effectively develop to the infective stage. These parasites can …show more content…

Farmers have many different methods of protecting their sheep, for example, drenching and four paddock rotation. Drenching is when the farmers forcibly administer a drug orally to the sheep in order to kill the larvae and adult worms inside the animal. This is somewhat effective as it kills the majority of worms and eggs inside the animal. This method, however, can become ineffective if the same brand of drench is used to often. This is because the worms that survive the drench the first time are immune/resistant to it the second time it is used, much like when a person gets a shot for a disease so that when they get it the next time they won’t get as

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