The AAEP released updated parasite control guidelines in 2024. Chair of the task force members who worked with the AAEP to create these guidelines was Martin K. Nielsen, DVM, PhD, DEVPC. Nielsen is currently a professor at Aarhus University in Denmark. At the time the guidelines were being updated, he was at the Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky.

In this video, Nielsen explains the updated parasite control guidelines.

(Editor’s note: The content of this video is the expert’s approach to the topic. Please consult with your practitioner if you have questions.)

Complete Overhaul

Nielsen said in 2024, the task force members gave the equine internal parasite guidelines a ‘complete overhaul.’

“We rebuilt the whole document,” he said. “Now we have a much better document with much more clear guidance. There are new recommendations on how to do the drug resistance testing. Those are very specific. And we made it very reader friendly with a bunch of boxes with take-home messages in bullet points.”

He said the guidelines are also updated with what types of resistance is found and how much there is in the equine population. Nielsen also covers the risks of finding resistant internal parasites on your horse operation.

Testing for Drug Resistance

“If you haven’t tested for drug resistance in your horses’ parasites, now is a good time to start,” Nielsen stressed.

“Please talk to your veterinarian about how to implement routine drug efficacy testing in your yearly deworming schedule,” he said. “If you do that, you’ve come a long way!”

AAEP Guidelines

New guidelines for the control of equine parasites have been released by the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP).

They noted that the goals for equine parasite control are to “minimize the risk of parasitic disease” and to “delay further development of anthelmintic resistance and maintain efficacious drugs for as long as possible.”

This document was originally created in 2013. It was reviewed and updated in 2024 by the AAEP Internal Parasite Control Guidelines Task Force under the oversight of the AAEP Infectious Disease Committee.

The task force members who worked with the AAEP to create these guidelines included: Martin K. Nielsen, DVM, PhD, DEVPC (chair); Michael Erskine, DVM, DABVP; Sally Anne L. DeNotta, DVM, PhD, DACVIM; Dennis D. French, DVM, PhD, DABVP; Emily Graves, VMD, DACVIM; Ray M. Kaplan, DVM, PhD, DACVM, DEVPC; Sarah Reuss, VMD, DACVIM; Eric L. Swinebroad, DVM, DACVIM; Wendy Vaala, VMD, DACVIM; and Rose D. Nolen-Walston, DVM, DACVIM (LAIM).

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