Parasites and Parasitic Diseases in the Livestock Industry in Latin America

Dear Colleagues,

From the point of view of biodiversity, Latin America (LA) is a privileged region, since it contains a large variety of plants, animals, and forms of life. It is estimated that more than 40% of the world's biodiversity is situated in this area. This region accounts for around sixty percent of global terrestrial life, and diverse freshwater and marine species can be found within this region. The bio-diversity in this region where organisms share the same habitats trying to survive in the face of adverse biotic and abiotic conditions promotes the establishment of natural regulating mechanisms such as parasitism. Cattle and small ruminants are continuously exposed to external parasites, i.e., ticks (Rhipicephalus microplus), horn flies (Haematobia irritans) and stable flies(Stomoxis calcitrans), and also to internal parasitosis, including gastrointestinal parasitic nematodes, liver fluke Fasciola hepatica and protozoa, i.e., Eimeria spp. These parasitosis are responsible for important economic loses affecting the livestock industry. The problem caused by parasites to animals worsens by the lack of efficacy of anti-parasitic chemical drugs due to the development of anti-parasitic resistance (APR). The effects and consequences of parasitic diseases together with other infectious diseases on animal health and the economy of farmers demotivate them and sometimes, producers abandon their livestock activity. The present Special Issue displays research studies developed in the LA region that contribute to understanding the problem of ecto and endo parasites in cattle and small ruminants from an epidemiological perspective, including the problem of APR and sustainable methods of control and prevention of the main parasitic diseases affecting ruminants in LA.    

Topics for submissions

• Epidemiology of ecto and endo parasitic diseases;
• Resistance to anthelmintic chemical drugs;
• Resistance to ixodicides;
• Plant and plant metabolites against ecto and endo parasites;
• Biological control of ecto and endo parasites;
• Other sustainable alternative methods of control of ecto and endo parasitic diseases

Dr. Pedro Mendoza de Gives
Guest Editor

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• parasitic diseases
• epidemiology
• antiparasitic resistance
• alternative methods of control
• livestock
• small ruminants