Our investigation recently published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution reveals how a single annual anthelmintic treatment administered over six years in a game state in Toledo, central Spain, reduced TB severity in wild boar. While ivermectin has direct anti-mycobacterial effects in vitro, the short duration of treatment means that the reduction in TB severity we observe in wild boar is unlikely to be accounted for by such a direct mechanism. Disruption of the helminth community and subsequent modification or enhancement of the host immune response is a potential mechanism. Future work should examine the consequences of annual anthelmintic drug administration on helminth community composition and structure and on the host immunological responses through time.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1186295/full
Annual short-burts mass anthelmintic administration reduces tuberculosis severity but not prevalence in a wildlfie reservoir