The first official set of guidelines for parasite control in horses is now available on the American Association for Equine Practitioners’ (AAEP) website. An AAEP-appointed subcommittee of researchers, clinicians, industry representatives, and veterinary practitioners spent the last several years formulating the document.

“We are facing a significant paradigm shift in equine parasitology, and there has been lots of confusion and controversy in our field in recent years,” said Martin K. Nielsen, DVM, PhD, Dipl. EVPC, assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Science at the University of Kentucky Gluck Equine Research Center. Nielsen is chair of the subcommittee.

Nielsen explained that guidelines for parasite control in horses are highly needed to help veterinarians and their clients maneuver in the challenging landscape between the many different parasite species infecting horses and the increasing levels of drug resistance in several of these. Parasite control is not as straightforward as we once believed.

“We have long been emphasizing there is no one-size-fits-all program for parasite control, which is a true statement but does not provide much help for the veterinarian in the field,” Nielsen said