Assessment of cypermethrin and doramectin for controlling wohlfahrtiosis in Crete.

The fleshfly, Wohlfahrtia magnifica, became an animal health problem in Crete, Greece, during 1999, causing outbreaks of wohlfahrtiosis throughout the main livestock producing regions of the island. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of commercially available drugs in order to design control strategies against wohlfahrtiosis. The test substances were cypermethrin and doramectin sc. The test animals were randomly divided between three groups (30 in each): one treated with cypermethrin pour-on, one treated with doramectin and one untreated controls. The trial lasted 45 days and the animals were inspected daily for natural infestations by W. magnifica. The first infestations were recorded on the 5th, 13th and the 23rd day in the control, cypermethrin and doramectin groups, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the survival curves for doramectin and the control group up to day 40, but not at the end of the study.