Treatment of the larval stage of Taenia multiceps with praziquantel.

Five sheep were infested orally with 5,500 eggs of Taenia multiceps and were treated with praziquantel (Droncit, Bayer) when they showed typical nervous signs of coenuriasis. Two sheep were treated with praziquantel at 100 mg/kg live mass per day for 5 days, 2 sheep at the same dosage for 2 days and one animal at 50 mg/kg per day for 5 days. No viable coenuri were recovered from any of these animals. This is the only anthelmintic that is known to be effective against this parasite, but its cost is such (R200 at the lowest dose rate) that it can be economically used only for the treatment of valuable stud animals.