4 CIRCULAR 148, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE 



parasitic infestation at a minimum and avoid losses from this source, 

 it is advisable to adopt a program of regular treatment. The usual 

 procedure is to administer treatments twice a year. In the northern 

 part of the United States, animals may be treated for "worm parasites 

 in the late spring or early summer and in the fall. In the South, 

 owing to the shorter and milder winter and the more abundant 

 warmth and moisture, it may be necessary to treat oftener. Judg- 

 ment, based on experience, is a better basis for procedure than any 

 general rule. Treatment for the removal of bots may be adminis- 

 tered 30 days after the first freezing weather lasting 24 hours or 

 longer. 



Internal parasites occur in various locations in the body of the 

 host animal, such as the alimentary canal, lungs, liver, kidneys, 

 blood, and various organs and tissues other than the skin. They 

 include various forms of animal life known as Protozoa, worms, the 

 larval forms of certain insects, and some forms closely related to 

 insects. The various kinds are discussed in detail in the following 

 pages : 



PROTOZOA 



Protozoa are relatively low forms of animal life, microscopic in 

 size, and consisting of but a single cell. The parasitic Protozoa of 

 domesticated animals are known to occur in various locations, and 

 are especially common in the alimentary canal and in the blood. 

 Fortunately, horses in the United States are relatively free from 

 certain disease-producing protozoan parasites which occur in horses 

 in other parts of the world where they constitute a limiting factor 

 in horse production. The only known pathogenic protozoan para- 

 site of horses in this country is the organism, one of the trypano- 

 somes, which produces dourine. 3 Trypanosomes closely related to 

 this organism occur in the blood of horses in South America, Asia, 

 the Philippine Islands, and elsewhere and produce serious and fatal 

 diseases. Up to the present time these parasites have not become 

 established in this country, and quarantine measures to keep them 

 out are enforced. 



Protozoan parasites of various kinds often occur in large num- 

 bers in the cecum and the upper colon of horses, but these forms 

 are not definitely known to produce any digestive or other disturb- 

 ances and are usually regarded as comparatively harmless. 



WORM PARASITES 



The worm parasites of horses include flukes, tapeworms, and 

 roundworms, the last -mentioned group being the most common and 

 the most injurious. 



FLUKES 



Flukes or trematodes are soft, more or less flattened, leaf -shaped 

 worms, occurring in various locations, especially in the digestive 

 tract and in organs which communicate with the digestive tract. 

 Only a few kinds of flukes are known to occur in horses, and several 



3 Information concerning dourine is published in Farmers' Bulletin 1146, Dourine of 

 Horses. 



