A journey through 50 years of research relevant to the control of gastrointestinal nematodes in ruminant livestock and thoughts on future directions

This review article provides an historical perspective on some of the major research advances of rele-vance to ruminant livestock gastrointestinal nematode control over the last 50 years. Over this period, gastrointestinal nematode control has been dominated by the use of broad-spectrum anthelmintic drugs. Whilst this has provided unprecedented levels of successful control for many years, this approach has been gradually breaking down for more than two decades and is increasingly unsustainable which due, at least in part, to the emergence of anthelmintic drug resistance and a number of other factors dis-cussed in this article. We first cover the remarkable success story of the discovery and development of broad-spectrum anthelmintic drugs, the changing face of anthelmintic drug discovery research and the emergence of anthelmintic resistance. This is followed by a review of some of the major advances in the increasingly important area of non-pharmaceutical gastrointestinal nematode control including immunology and vaccine development, epidemiological modelling and some of the alternative control strategies such as breeding for host resistance, refugia-based methods and biological control. The last 50 years have witnessed remarkable innovation and success in research aiming to improve ruminant livestock gastrointestinal nematode control, particularly given the relatively small size of the research community and limited funding. In spite of this, the growing global demand for livestock products, together with the need to maximise production efficiencies, reduce environmental impacts and safeguard animal welfare - as well as specific challenges such as anthelmintic drug resistance and climate change- mean that gastrointestinal nematode researchers will need to be as innovative in the next 50 years as in the last. (c) 2021 Australian Society for Parasitology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Over the past 50 years, there have been significant research advances in ruminant livestock gastrointestinal nematode control, primarily using broad-spectrum anthelmintic drugs. However, with the emergence of anthelmintic drug resistance, the importance of non-pharmaceutical control strategies such as immunology, vaccine development, epidemiological modeling, and other alternative methods is increasing.