Roadmap for nematode control strategies

Transmission pathways, i.e. the life cycle, is already well-established for the important nematode species of livestock.
Further understanding of the role of host demographics and farm organisation in the transmission of nematodes and AR could assist control, especially more limited and targeted use of drugs and maintenance of their efficacy.

To understand the use of pathways and organisation of pasture exploitation e.g. different stocking rate, continuous or rotational use, resting time, types of vegetation, possible mixed grazing in different farm systems (milk or meat production or temperate vs. tropical conditions) and different grazing management/residual levels.
To identify situations of interactions between different flocks (i.e. transhumant flocks, communal grazing) or buying animals from another herd/flock.
Confirming for every ecosystem which are the months of the year when eggs and infective larvae die out by themselves, and alert farmers that in those months they should only treat those animals that really need anthelmintic intervention.

Perform tracer studies in different ecosystems where the host species are important for the economy.
Develop software to describe the organisation at farm level, to understand the dynamics of infection.

Identify the main inputs (environment and also structure of the herd/flock and use of the pasture) to feed mathematical models for describing the farming organisation.
Recording the use of AH treatment in different groups of animals within the flock.
Use mobile phone/tablet/computer application or programmes to help decision-making at farm level with information collected into a large international or national database for future epidemiological work.
Train vets and researchers to produce worm free tracers, identify eggs, infective larvae and adult worms.

There are differences between nematodes in terms of host specificity. This has been exploited to control nematodes, especially GIN, at the farm level by using different host species (e.g. mixed or rotational grazing).
Prior exposure to drugs in the host will result in the survival of resistant adult worms that will seed resistant eggs and larvae to the paddock, making the spread of AR more likely.
There are expert groups that can train vets and other researchers to perform those studies.