Secnidazol Treatment to Improve Milk Yield in Sheep with Giardiasis

The purpose of this multidiciplinary (agricultural and veterinary fields) study was to assess the effect of single secnidazol treatment on milk production in dairy ewes naturally infected with Giardia duodenalis. Thirty dairy ewes with Giardiasis, were enrolled into 3 equal groups and Groups I and II were treated with secnidazole at a single dose rate of 10 mg/kg or 30 mg/kg, respectively, perorally and G III ewes were controls. Throughout the study ewes in G III remained positive for Giardiasis, awith some of them showed an increase without statistical significance in cyst counts on day 10 (ranged 1300-241650) compared to the initial values (ranged between 5600-274600). The least square means and standard error of means of cyst excretion on D0 and D10 revealed that there was a significant reduction (P 0.001) in cyst reduction in GI and GII animals. Both group GI and GII ewes produced significantly more milk than group G III ones (P 0.001). The change of mean milk yield over time was statistically significant (P 0.001) among group GI and GII ewes; besides a statistically significant (P 0.001) reduction in the mean milk yield of group GIII ewes was observed. Given the efficacy of secnidazol treatment for cyst reduction and increased milk yield, it may be safely suggested that Giardiasis adversely affects the production of the infested animals.