Martin Nielsen, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVM, Schlaikjer professor of Equine Infectious Disease, associate professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Veterinary Science at the Gluck Equine Research Center, and his team are collaborating with leading scientists at the University of Massachusetts and U.S. Department of Agriculture on a project investigating the effects and safety of a naturally occurring bacterial dewormer.

 A free-living bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, produces a family of crystal proteins to combat its competitors. Some of these proteins have very potent activity against parasitic worms.

In a newly published study, the team documents high efficacy of these bacterial proteins against roundworm parasites of pigs and horses. Foals naturally infected with high levels of Parascaris spp. parasites were treated with a single dose, which eliminated all parasites. The foals did not show any signs of adverse reactions to the treatments.

This is a culmination of a project that was launched years ago as a crowdfunding project under the title, “Let the Germs Get the Worms.” The project has since been funded by the USDA, and the germs are, indeed, getting the worms.

Full access to the scientific article can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2021.100241