Efficacy of ivermectin in a beef-based chewable formulation against Ancylostoma caninum and Uncinaria stenocephala in dogs.

The effective dosage of a chewable formulation of ivermectin was determined in 35 young dogs with induced infections of Ancylostoma caninum and Uncinaria stenocephala. Dogs were inoculated with these parasites and held until the infections were patent. Within each of 7 replicates, dogs were allocated randomly to 1 of 5 treatment groups: vehicle control, or ivermectin at 6, 12, 18, or 24 micrograms/kg. Chewable treatments were tailored to body weight. Seven or 8 days after treatment, parasites were recovered using standard techniques. All 7 controls had adult A. caninum (geometric mean = 35.5) and U. stenocephala (geometric mean = 82.6). Against A. caninum, the efficacy of ivermectin was 52%, 98%, 95%, and 97% at 6, 12, 18, and 24 micrograms/kg, respectively. The statistical model that best described the dose response was linear to 12 micrograms/kg with a plateau thereafter. Using this model, the estimated reduction from the predicted control mean was 97.2%; the estimated dose to eliminate 90% of the worms (ED90) was 8.4 micrograms/kg, and the ED95 was 10.5 micrograms/kg. Against U. stenocephala, the dose response was linear in the range studied, with an ED90 of 20.8 micrograms/kg; it was estimated that 93.2% of the worms would be eliminated.