ADVERTORIAL
Efficacy of oral afoxolaner
for the treatment
of canine generalised
demodicosis
Frédéric Beugnet 1 ,*, Lénaïg Halos 1 ,
Diane Larsen 1 , and Christa de Vos 2
1 Merial S.A.S., 29 avenue Tony Garnier, 69007 Lyon, France
2 Clinvet International (Pty) Ltd, PO Box 11186, 9321 Universitas, South Africa
Received 25 January 2016, Accepted 10 March 2016, Published online 24 March 2016
Parasite 2016, 23, 14 . Published by EDP Sciences, 2016
DOI: 10.1051/parasite/2016014
Abstract – The efficacy of oral treatment with a chew-
able tablet containing afoxolaner 2.27% w/w (Nex-
Gard, Merial) administered orally was assessed in eight
dogs diagnosed with generalised demodicosis an d
compared with efficacy in eight dogs under treatment
with a topical combination of imidacloprid/moxidec-
tin (Advocate, Bayer). Afoxolaner was administered at
the recommended dose (at least 2.5 mg/kg) on Days
0, 14, 28 and 56. The topical combination of imida-
cloprid/moxidectin was given at the same intervals
at the recommended concentration. Clinical exam-
inations and deep skin scrapings were performed
every month in order to evaluate the effect on mite
numbers and the resolution of clinical signs. The per-
centage reductions of mite counts were 99.2%, 99.9%
and 100% on Days 28, 56 and 84, respectively, in the
afoxolaner-treated group, compared to 89.8%, 85.2%
and 86.6% on Days 28, 56 and 84 in the imidacloprid/
moxidectin-treated group. Skin condition of the dogs
also improved significantly from Day 28 to Day 84 in
the afoxolaner-treated group. Mite reductions were
significantly higher on Days 28, 56 and 84 in the afox-
olaner-treated group compared to the imidacloprid/
moxidectin-treated group.
The results of this study demonstrated that afoxolaner,
given orally, was effective in treating dogs with gener-
alised demodicosis within a two-month period.
Efficacy of afoxolaner in a
clinical field study in dogs
naturally infested with
Sarcoptes scabiei
Frédéric Beugnet ,*, Christa de Vos ,
Julian Liebenberg 2 , Lénaïg Halos 1 ,
Diane Larsen 1 ,and Josephus Fourie 2
1
2
1 Merial S.A.S., 29 avenue Tony Garnier, 69630 Lyon, France
2 Clinvet International (Pty) Ltd, PO Box 11186, 9321 Universitas, South Africa
Received 31 March 2016, Accepted 5 June 2016, Published online 17 June 2016
Abstract – The acaricidal efficacy of afoxolaner (NexGard_,
Merial) was evaluated against Sarcoptes scabiei var.canis in
a field efficacy study, when administered orally at a mini-
mum dose of 2.5 mg/kg to dogs naturally infested with the
mites. Twenty mixed-breed dogs of either sex (6 males and
14 females), aged over 6 months and weighing 4–18 kg,
were studied in this randomised controlled field efficacy tri-
al. Dogs, naturally infested with Sarcoptes scabiei var. canis
confirmed by skin scrapings collected prior to allocation,
were randomly divided into two equal groups.
Dogs in Group 1 were not treated. Dogs in Group 2 were
treated on Days 0 and 28. On Days 0 (pre-treatment), 28
(pre-treatment) and 56, five skin scrapings of similar size
were taken from different sites with lesions suggestive of
sarcoptic mange. The extent of lesions was also recorded
on Days 0, 28 and 56, and photographs were taken.
Dogs treated orally with afoxolaner had significantly (p <
0.001) lower mite counts than untreated control animals
at Days 28 and 56 with no mites recovered from treated
dogs at these times (100% efficacy based on mite counts).
In addition, dogs treated with NexGard had significantly (p
< 0.05) better lesion resolution at Day 56 than Day 0; no
treated dog showed pruritus compared to 7/10 dogs in the
control group, 1/9 treated dogs had crusts compared to
5/10 controls and 8/9 dogs recovered 90% of hairs on le-
sions compared to 0/10 control dogs.
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Parasite 2016, 23, 26, DOI: 10.1051/parasite/2016026
RESEARCH
Issue 03 | JUNE 2017 | 7