Comparative efficacy of seven brands of albendazole against naturally acquired gastrointestinal nematodes in sheep in Hawassa, southern Ethiopia

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of 7 brands of albendazole against gastrointestinal nematodes in naturally infected sheep in southern Ethiopia. The study included 120 local breed male sheep purchased in Hawassa. The sheep were divided into 8 groups of 15 animals each. Group 1 served as the untreated control, whereas groups 2-8 were treated with ABZ1, ABZ2, ABZ3, ABZ4, ABZ5, ABZ6, and ABZ7, respectively. Fecal samples were collected before treatment on day 0, and again on post-treatment day 12. The efficacy of all 7 brands of albendazole was determined on post-treatment day 12 based on the fecal egg count reduction test (FECRT). The results of the study show that the efficacy of 5 brands was good, whereas that of the other 2 brands was low. The observed differences in efficacy between the brands of albendazole were most likely due to variations in quality rather than the administered doses. Coprocultures from all pre- and post-treatment samples showed a predominance of Haemonchus spp. Results of a questionnaire survey indicated that the benzimidazoles are the most widely used anthelmintic family, followed by the imidazothiazoles and macrocyclic lactones. In addition, it showed that farmers in the study area were engaged in several practices that may be responsible for lowering the efficacy of anthelmintics. Additional detailed studies are required to clarify the current status of the efficacy of the anthelmintics widely used in different agroecologies, animal species, and livestock management systems in Ethiopia.