Antiparasitic education needed, antimicrobial education given

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The AVMA wants veterinarians to stay up to date on parasite control because of the risk antiparasitic resistance poses to pets and livestock.

And Association leaders want to tell members about the availability of guidance on antimicrobial use in treating certain diseases.

The AVMA Board of Directors voted in April to advocate in favor of parasitology education for veterinarians, veterinary students, and animal owners. Drug-resistant heartworms of dogs, barber pole worms (Haemonchus contortus) of small ruminants, brown stomach worms (Ostertagia ostertagi) of cattle, and small strongyles and roundworms of horses are cited as risks in the policy the Board passed on antiparasitic resistance.

The Board also agreed that the AVMA should tell members about the availability of guidelines on antimicrobial use to treat two specific conditions. The documents from the International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Diseases describe diagnosis of, and antimicrobial therapy for, canine superficial bacterial folliculitis as well as antimicrobial use for treating urinary tract disease in dogs and cats.

The AVMA is not endorsing those documents or recommending use of the treatments detailed within. Members of the AVMA House of Delegates voted in January against such endorsements, and some indicated during their debate that they found the guidelines to be too prescriptive for adoption as AVMA policy.

The superficial bacterial folliculitis–related document is available here. The urinary-tract disease–related document is available here.