Efficacy of fipronil, amitraz and (S)-methoprene combination spot-on for dogs against adult dog fleas (Ctenocephalides canis, Curtis, 1826).

Emilie Bouhsira, Stephen S Yoon, Martine Roques, Coralie Manavella, Solange Vermot, Luiz G Cramer, Catherine Ollagnier, Michel Franc

Index: Vet. Parasitol. 179(4) , 351-3, (2011)

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Abstract

A novel spot-on formulation combining fipronil, amitraz and (S)-methoprene (CERTIFECT™, Merial Limited, GA, USA) was evaluated in adult Beagle dogs in a study to determine its adulticidal efficacy against the dog flea (Ctenocephalides canis, Curtis, 1826). Sixteen dogs were randomly allocated to treatment groups: 8 dogs served as untreated controls, and 8 dogs were treated once. Treatment consisted of applying a new combination formulation to deliver at least 6.7mg fipronil/kg body weight (bw), 8.0mg amitraz/kg bw, and 6.0mg (S)-methoprene/kg bw. The combination was designed to enhance the efficacy against ticks of the original fipronil/(S)-methoprene combination. Each dog was infested with 100 adult unfed dog fleas within 24h prior to treatment and then at weekly intervals for 8 weeks after treatment. At 24h after treatment or after each subsequent infestation, each dog was combed thoroughly to remove live fleas to be counted. A single treatment with CERTIFECT provided excellent knock-down of fleas within 24h after treatment and controlled re-infestations for up to 7 weeks (efficacy ≥96.5%, p<0.05).Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.