The Project WORMS surveys are now closed and data analysis is underway. This page will be updated once initial findings from the project can be shared.
Project WORMS: Working together to tackle anthelmintic resistance
We are delighted to launch Project WORMS! Project WORMS stands for Working to Overcome Resistance and Make for a Sustainable future
Project WORMS recognises that veterinary teams and owners need to work together to tackle resistance to worming products. A responsible approach to the use of wormers is crucial to maximise animal welfare and ensure we have effective products available in the future.
In this first stage of Project WORMS we are looking for horse owners/keepers and stud owners/managers to complete a short questionnaire about how they currently control worms in their horses. The horse owner survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete, and the stud owner/manager survey around 20 minutes. Your responses are anonymous, but you can at the end be transferred to put your details into a prize draw to win £100 ‘Love to Shop’ vouchers.
This first stage of the project was initiated as a collaboration between Tim Mair (CVS Group Ltd), and Julia Shrubb and Camilla Scott from the VetPartners Equine Clinical Board, and has been developed with the Clinical Board support team at VetPartners. Ethical approval was obtained from the RCVS.
Tim Mair (CVS Group Ltd) said: “Resistance to worming drugs (anthelmintic resistance) is a rapidly growing, world-wide problem. With no new worming drugs on the horizon, it is essential that we do everything we can to protect the drugs that we currently have available, which means using wormers strategically and only when necessary. To safeguard the drugs, we need to know how and when horse owners currently decide to worm their horses. This is the objective of these surveys”
All of our team believe in delivering outstanding care to our patients and clients, and involving clients in projects such as Project WORMS is important to help achieve this. Julia Shrubb, Ashbrook Equine Hospital, added: “Most horse owners want to do the right thing for their horses, now and in the future, but many are unaware of the seriousness of the impending resistance problems of current wormers. Understanding how and when horse owners currently choose to give wormers will help us improve worming practices in the future, with the aim to preserving their effectiveness for as a long as possible and ultimately help the health and welfare of our entire equine population.”
For more information about the surveys, please click on horse owner/keeper survey or stud owner/manager survey
The survey links are here:
Horse owners/keepers: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WORMSowner
Stud owners/managers: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WORMSstud
Dr Rachel Dean, Director of Clinical Research and Excellence in Practice and Chair of the VetPartners Clinical Board, added “Project WORMS is a great example of how we can work together across the veterinary industry and with our clients to make a difference to the health and welfare of horses whose care we deliver. This kind of practice-based research will deliver key information which will enable us to innovate our approach to worming practices. I would like to thank everyone who has been involved to deliver this project”
Please tell others about Project WORMS. Click here for a downloadable poster about Project WORMS to share/print.
Members of the team involved in Project WORMS include:
Tim Mair, CVS Group Ltd; Julia Shrubb, Ashbrook Equine Hospital; Camilla Scott, Rossdales Equine Hospital; Russell Parker, Liphook Equine Hospital; Rachel Dean, Director of Clinical Research and Excellence; Natalie Robinson, Clinical Data Manager
If you have any queries about this study please contact tim.mair@btinternet.com or Clinical.Board@vetpartners.co.uk