Recent Advances in the Control of Ecto and Endo-Parasites in Ruminant from a Sustainable Perspective

Dear Colleagues,

Both internal and external parasites are a worrying problem affecting animal health and limiting the productive potential of small and large ruminants, discouraging productive animal activity all over the world. Traditionally, the most common method of control of these parasitic diseases has based on the periodical and frequent administration of chemical drugs (CDs), which include anthelmintics and ixodicides in flocks and herds, and for many years, this method was considered a very useful and efficient measure of control of these parasites. In recent decades, however, the use of CDs against ecto and endoparasites has gained a bad reputation by producers of small and large ruminants worldwide for various reasons, for example, the presence of chemical drug residues in meat, milk or in sub-products derived from the livestock industry, which is considered a potential risk to public health. Additionally, the elimination of CD residues in feces from treated animals occasions an important contamination of soil and, similarly to the effect of chemical pesticides, affects beneficial soil microorganisms, which contribute to deteriorating soil fertility and environmental health. On the other hand, the imminent presence of resistance developed in parasites as a consequence of the continuous use of commercially available CDs causes a severe inefficacy of antiparasitic drugs that provokes an increase in parasitic populations together with their negative impact on animal health and on animal productivity. This demotivating situation has attracted great interest in workers around the world to search for other strategies of control of parasites with a focus on sustainability and innocuity. The present Special Issue aims to collect the most relevant scientific findings recently obtained on this important topic that allow minimizing the use of CDs whose negative consequences on human health, animal production, and the environment are an increasingly worrying problem. 

Dr. Pedro Mendoza De Gives
Guest Editor

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• ecto-parasites
• endo-parasites
• control strategies
• sustainability
• ruminants