September 2006

Website Leaves Us With More Questions Than Answers

News about an alleged drug-resistant parasite causes us concern.

Several worried readers contacted us about the alleged discovery of a "mutated," "resistant," or different "strongyle-like" parasite circulating in the horse’s blood stream. This parasite was said to be resistant to current deworming drugs and causing a wide variety of illnesses in horses. Our readers wanted to know what we knew about it.

We looked at the Indiana Horse-Rescue website and found the article under the "research" button (see www.indianahorserescue.com/Links.htm and click the "research" tab). This parasite is said to infect horses, humans and dogs. It’s supposedly the microscopic larval form of a nematode (intestinal parasites other than tapeworms are nematodes). …