Resumen:
The study aimed to test the potential
anthelmintic activity of Salix babylonica (SB) extract
for the control of gastrointestinal and pulmonary
parasites in sheep and goats under field conditions. A
representative sample of 20 % of all animals reared in
8 sheep and 7 goat farms was used in the study.
Animals from each farm were randomly selected for a
total number of 93 sheep and 75 goats. Animals
suffered a natural gastrointestinal nematode infection
and had never been treated with chemical anthelmintic
drugs. The SB extract (20 mL) was orally administered
weekly before the morning feeding to each
animal for 60 days. Fecal eggs or oocysts were
counted at 0, 1, 20, 40, and 60 days after starting the
extract administration. Differences (P\0.01) in the
fecal oocyst and egg output of Eimeria, Dictyocaulus,
and Moniezia were observed between sheep and goats.
In addition, the treatment influenced (P\0.05) egg
outputs of Cooperia, Dictyocaulus, and Trichuris.
Fecal egg or oocyst counts of Haemonchus contortus,
Eimeria, Cooperia, Chabertia, Dictyocaulus, Moniezia,
and Ostertagia were time-dependent (P\0.05).
For sheep, administration of SB decreased (P\0.05)
the fecal eggs count of H. contortus, Cooperia,
Chabertia, Dictyocaulus, Moniezia, and Trichuris.
After 20 days of treatment, H. contortus, Cooperia, or
Moniezia were not detected. For goats, SB reduced
(P\0.05) the fecal egg counts of H. contortus,
Cooperia, Chabertia, and Moniezia. Moreover,
decreases were observed (P\0.05) for Chabertia,
Trichostrongylus, and Ostertagia. Eggs of H. contortus
and Moniezia were not present in the feces after
1 day of administration of the extract. It could be
concluded that the weekly administration of SB
extract at 20 mL per animal can be used to treat
gastrointestinal and lung nematodes of small ruminants
in organic and traditional farming systems of
tropical regions.