Therapeutic and prophylactic efficacy of imidocarb dipropionate on experimental Babesia ovis infection of lambs

The objective of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic and prophylactic efficacy of imidocarb dipropionate (IMDP) against babesiosis and to determine specific antibodies against Babesia ovis in experimentally infected lambs. Thirty-six 6-month-old splenectomized lambs were used. The lambs were randomly divided into six groups with six animals each, and were intravenously inoculated with 50 mL B. ovis-infected erythrocytes as follows: group I (therapy group) was treated with IMDP (1.2 mg/kg body weight) starting on the day of onset of clinical signs of babesiosis after the inoculation; group II (untreated control animals) was not treated with any therapeutic treatment after the inoculation; groups III, IV, V and VI (prophylaxis groups) were administered IMDP (2.4 mg/kg body weight) 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks before the inoculation, respectively. The animals were housed in a tick-proof room with water and food ad libitum up to the 30th day post-inoculation (PI). The lambs were monitored from the first day PI by recording the manifestation of clinical disease, rectal temperature, and the degree of parasitaemia