Efficacy of treatment of elevated coccidial oocyst counts in goats using amprolium versus ponazuril

Coccidiosis is an important disease of young goats leading to weight loss, diarrhea, and death. In the USA, both ionophores and decoquinate are labeled for prevention of coccidia in goats. However, there are no drugs approved for treatment of clinical cases of coccidiosis in this species. Amprolium is labeled for treatment of coccidiosis in calves while ponazuril, a metabolite of toltrazuril, is labeled for treatment of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis. In this study, 150 young goats housed on concrete lots had fecal samples collected and McMaster fecal oocyst per gram counts performed at 0, 7, 14, and 21 days post-processing. Goats were randomly assigned to receive either amprolium (50mg/kg once a day for 5 days by mouth) or ponazuril (10mg/kg by mouth once) if they had fecal oocyst counts >5,000 per gram. Fecal samples were obtained and oocyst counts performed at days 7, 14, 21, and 28 after the cessation of treatment. Goats were weighed on days 0 and 21 post-processing. Seven goats were enrolled into the amprolium group and 8 into the ponazuril group. Both treatments resulted in decreased oocyst counts post-treatment compared to before treatment. There was no significant difference between fecal coccidian oocyst counts between goats in each group. There was no significant difference in body weight between goats in each group. This study showed that both amprolium and ponazuril were effective in decreasing fecal coccidia oocyst counts in this group of goats. Use of both drugs is currently extra-label in the USA.