2% groups, but a statistical difference (p > 0.05) was observed in these groups and the Control group after March ( Fig. 3), with an emphasis in D. flagrans that, at the end of the experiment, the animals had a 9.3 kg of weight gain. The Moxidectin 0.2% group

had 5.7 kg of weight gain, and in the Control group, the animals had a 1.1 kg weight reduction. selleck compound Comparison of mean PCV showed a statistical difference (p < 0.05) between the D. flagrans group and the other groups in April, May and August ( Fig. 4). In the leukogram was observed an increase in the average of the total leukocyte count, with a statistical difference (p < 0.05) in April, June and July ( Table 2). It was also observed that in most collections, the segmented percentage was high and the lymphocytes percentage was reduced. However, rates of eosinophils remained normal in all collections. It was observed that the tracer goats from the D. flagrans group had a significantly lower parasite load compared to the other groups (p < 0.05) since April ( Table 3). In most cases, H. contortus was the most prevalent, followed by T. axei, S. papillosus, T. colubriformis and O. columbianum. Immature larvae of H. contortus

were observed in all groups since July. This study was the first to test the efficacy of D. flagrans in the control of goat gastrointestinal helminths in a semi-arid region of northeastern Brazil. The use of these fungus pellets in a sodium alginate matrix at a dose of 3 g/10 kg l. w., twice a week, proved to be effective in controlling gastrointestinal Ivacaftor mw worms, reducing the EPG in 58.9%, even at high temperatures, which reached 33.7 °C, and low rainfall, averaging 45.5 mm3 in the second quarter. Similar results were found by Silva et al. (2009), who administered the same fungus in sheep at doses of 1 g of pellets (0.2 g of fungus/10 kg l. w.) in Southeastern Brazil, twice a week for 5 months, and obtained a 71.6% EPG reduction. In another work, Silva et al. (2010) demonstrated the effect of this fungus on gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep (June–November

2010) with average percentage of EPG decreasing in the treated group compared to the control group. These results are similar to those presented in this study, since there was an average EPG decrease confirming that the action of this fungus Bumetanide is in the faecal environment. The mycelia used in the present experiment had been proven effective in previous studies carried out in Brazil ( Assis and Araújo, 2003, Braga et al., 2009, Silva et al., 2009, Silva et al., 2010 and Tavela et al., 2011). Sagués et al. (2011) also observed an EPG reduction in sheep by D. flagrans in Argentina. Other studies have also showed the effectiveness of this fungus in controlling animal helminths ( Araújo et al., 2004, Dias et al., 2007, Paraud et al., 2007, Braga et al., 2009 and Tavela et al., 2011). Rodrigues et al.