Biological control of sheep gastrointestinal nematodiasis in a tropical region of the southeast of Brazil with the nematode predatory fungi Duddingtonia flagrans and Monacrosporium thaumasium

Abstract

Formulations in matrix of sodium alginate (pellets) of the nematode predatory fungi Duddingtonia flagrans and Monacrosporium thaumasium were evaluated in the biolog- ical control of sheep gastrointestinal nematodiasis. Three groups (1, 2, and 3), each one with eight sheep of the Santa Inês breed, at the ages of 15–48 months, were placed in paddocks of Brachiaria decumbens for 5 months. In group 1, each animal received 1 g/10 kg of live weight (l.w.) of pellets of D. flagrans (0.2 g of fungus/10 kg l.w.). In group 2, each animal received 1 g/10 kg of l.w. of pellets of the fungus M. thaumasium (0.2 g of fungus/10 kg l.w.), twice a week, for 5 months. In group 3 (control), the animals received 1 g/10 kg of live weight of pellets without fungus. The monthly averages of the egg countings per gram of feces of the animals of groups 1 and 2 treated were 71.6% and 61.1% smaller, respectively, in comparison to the animals of group 3 (control). The treatment of sheep with pellets containing the nematophagous fungi D. flagrans and M. thaumasium may be used as an alternative for the control of sheep gastrointestinal nematodiasis.