The treatment and eradication of sheep lice and ked with cyhalothrin--a new synthetic pyrethroid.

A new synthetic pyrethroid, cyhalothrin, has been evaluated as both a sheep dip and a jetting fluid for the control of body lice (Damalinia ovis), face lice (Linognathus ovillus), foot lice (Linognathus pedalis) and the sheep ked (Melophagus ovinus). A dip wash concentration of 1.25 ppm cyhalothrin eradicated D. ovis from sheep. A jetting fluid at a concentration of 20 ppm also eradicated D. ovis. In the field cyhalothrin was evaluated at 20 ppm as a dip wash and at 50 ppm as a jetting fluid. These field trials confirmed the ability of cyhalothrin to eradicate D. ovis from short and long-woolled sheep. The sucking lice, L. ovillus and L. pedalis, were also found to be very susceptible to cyhalothrin at a dip wash concentration of 20 ppm, but it was necessary to treat the predilection sites infested by these parasites twice within a 3-week period to achieve their eradication. Sheep ked (M. ovinus) were eradicated from an infected flock of sheep after plunge dipping in cyhalothrin at 20 ppm.