Feleke Assefa
The demand of livestock products is increasing at dramatic rate because of the increase in human population and income growth. In order to satisfy this huge demand, livestock productivity has to be enhanced. However, apart from feed scarcity and its nutritional fluctuation, livestock productivity is highly influenced by parasitic diseases. Gastro-intestinal nematods (GIN) infection is a major constraint of livestock production particularly production of small ruminants. In order to control GIN, the development of effective drugs capable of controlling a number of parasite species has, apparently, been one of the most impressive technological achievements of the twentieth century. However, parasitic resistance to chemical drugs, poor availability and affordability of chemical drugs to resource poor farmers and fear of the residual effects of chemical drugs on animal products fuel increased interest in the use of medicinal plants to control parasites. The goal of this paper is to provide an overview of plant metabolites in controlling internal parasites of small ruminants and their efficacy.
Share this article