Efficacy of Neem Extract and Cydectin Used as Treatments for the Control of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Sheep

Small ruminants, such as sheep in The Caribbean, are affected by an incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) parasites. Many such parasites negatively affect sheep’s productivity and significantly reduce the economic viability of livestock. Parasite control, commonly by anthelmintic medication (such as Cydectin), is limited by the cost of treatment. Additionally, some herds have been infected with helminths resistant to multiple drugs. Therefore, smaller-scale livestock farmers require an alternative treatment form to control GI parasites. This research was carried out on the farmland of the livestock farm of The Bahamas Agricultural and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) in North Andros, Bahamas. In this region, Neem (Azedarach indica) is a part of the natural flora. For the present study, ten sheep testing positive for helminth eggs in their feces were chosen and split evenly into two groups (A and B). Groups A and B were treated with neem extract at 0.5mL·kg-1 and Cydectin drench at 0.2 mL·kg−1 body weight, respectively. The egg count was determined using the modified McMaster technique. Results of the experiment show that neem extract showed significant (p < 0.05) reduction in EPG by day 55 and Cydectin found significant (p < 0.05) reduction on days 28 and 55. Although not statistically different (p < 0.05), Cydectin demonstrated higher efficacy (88.2%) than neem (74.2%) at day 55. Findings from this study suggest that Neem could be an alternative means of effective control treatment against helminths in sheep.