Lungworm

Symptoms

Chronic Cough during rest and exercise. Very little symptoms shown otherwise. Donkeys are usually affected by lungworm although horses grazing alongside donkeys may also be affected.

Cause

Lungworm larvae release eggs whilst in the gut which then pass onto pasture with the faeces. If the conditions are suitable, larvae will hatch from the eggs and migrate up the stems of grass until they are digested. Lungworm larvae do not cause must damage in donkeys, although they can cause a lot of damage in horses.

Treatment

Anthelmintic drugs need to be administered to try to limit the lungworm larvae. Faecal egg counts can be used regularly to estimate the burden of parasites within the horse and a worming programme which targets all worms can be set up alongside this to try to prevent heavy infestations of parasites in the future. Wormers which can be used effectively against lungworm include Eqvalan or Equitac