preventative treatment for baylisascaris procyonis

[deirdre425]

Does anyone know of a preventative treatment for Baylisascaris and the correct dosage that you would give to a squirrel. I have one female squirrel "Squibbs" that I hand raised this spring and about 13 other wild squirrels on our property. We also have a very large raccoon population. Sadly, two of my wild squirrels are showing signs of Baylisascaris. I would like to treat Squibbs so that she does not get infected. It is my understanding that there is no treatment for the ones that are already showing neurological symptoms. Thank you for any help.

[TubeDriver]

I wonder if it would be possible to use medicated-bait to treat the wild raccoon population in your area?


"A recent study in Emerging Infectious Diseases (Page et al. 2014) shows the potential usefulness of dewormer baiting for control of the raccoon roundworm, Baylisascaris procyonis, in urban raccoons. The researchers made dewormer baits similar to those used for rabies vaccine, with marshmallow flavoring (don’t ask me why, but raccoons love marshmallows). They mixed a dewormer, pyrantel pamoate, with marshmallow crème, and sealed it in a hollow fishmeal polymer bait container. They then distributed baits in the vicinity of raccoon latrines in suburban Chicago and also tracked a set of untreated latrines. Fecal samples were collected from the environment before and after one year of monthly baiting.

Pre-treatment, B. procyonis was identified in 13% of samples, equally distributed between sites they subsequently baited and sites they did not bait (to act as controls).

After the one year baiting period, B. procyonis eggs were found in 21% of samples from the untreated control sites but only 3% of the treated sites. That’s a pretty dramatic (and statistically significant) difference.

This shows the potential impact of a relatively easy and cost-effective method to deworm raccoons, to reduce contamination of the environment and subsequent human exposure. It couldn’t be a one-shot deal, though. You’d never eradicate the parasite and raccoons will continue to be exposed, even if levels in latrines decrease. So, ongoing baiting would be needed to control the parasite and keep contamination down. That involves more effort and cost, but could be reasonable in high risk areas, such as parks with lots of raccoons and lots of human and pet traffic, or in other areas where elimination of latrines is not practical but there is a reasonable risk of human or domestic animal exposure."

https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/20...feral-animals/

[deirdre425]

Thank you for your reply TubeDriver. I thought about treating the raccoons with dewormer baits, but after speaking with someone that does raccoon rehabilitation it was decided that it would be hard to treat the raccoons without overdosing or underdosing. I do not want to harm the raccoons.
I have read that treating the squirrels with pyrental or Valbazen may be helpful. I am not sure about the dosing and how often and if it is safe for the squirrels.

[TubeDriver]

I think you are going to have much the same problem with trying to dose a bunch of wild squirrels. How do you keep track? And continually dosing squirrels might have side effects to. You could certainly treat your release but for how long? Tough issue with no easy answer.

Thank you for your reply TubeDriver. I thought about treating the raccoons with dewormer baits, but after speaking with someone that does raccoon rehabilitation it was decided that it would be hard to treat the raccoons without overdosing or underdosing. I do not want to harm the raccoons.
I have read that treating the squirrels with pyrental or Valbazen may be helpful. I am not sure about the dosing and how often and if it is safe for the squirrels.

[Mel1959]

Pyrantel Pamoate is a very safe dewormer. Rehabbed raccoons are treated every 10-14 days upon intake until release, which is usually 5+ months old. I purchased the liquid version for humans and it is pleasant tasting so is readily accepted. I have attached some pictures out of the Wild Mammal Baby Book of different dewormers and the dosage.

The first photo is for panacur (Safeguard). It tastes nasty and the raccoons hate it. It wouldn’t be a good choice to treat the wilds with or your released guy.

I want to draw your attention to the picture for Pyrantel. The table gives the dosage for Nemex2 which has a much lower concentration of the active medicine (4.54mg/ml) than the human version of Pyrantel, which is 50mg/ml. This means that you can use a lower dosage than what the table indicates for the human version of the medicine. Again, this medication is very safe. I have accidentally dosed the human version following the Nemex2 chart and had no ill effects in my raccoons.

[deirdre425]

I think you are going to have much the same problem with trying to dose a bunch of wild squirrels. How do you keep track? And continually dosing squirrels might have side effects to. You could certainly treat your release but for how long? Tough issue with no easy answer.

I agree with you TubeDriver. The only thing is that I know each of my wild squirrels individually and would be able to keep track of the dosing, whereas I don't know the individual raccoons. I certainly don't want to do harm to any of the animals

[deirdre425]

Pyrantel Pamoate is a very safe dewormer. Rehabbed raccoons are treated every 10-14 days upon intake until release, which is usually 5+ months old. I purchased the liquid version for humans and it is pleasant tasting so is readily accepted. I have attached some pictures out of the Wild Mammal Baby Book of different dewormers and the dosage.

The first photo is for panacur (Safeguard). It tastes nasty and the raccoons hate it. It wouldn’t be a good choice to treat the wilds with or your released guy.

I want to draw your attention to the picture for Pyrantel. The table gives the dosage for Nemex2 which has a much lower concentration of the active medicine (4.54mg/ml) than the human version of Pyrantel, which is 50mg/ml. This means that you can use a lower dosage than what the table indicates for the human version of the medicine. Again, this medication is very safe. I have accidentally dosed the human version following the Nemex2 chart and had no ill effects in my raccoons.

Thank you so much for your informative reply Mel1959. I am going to try to use the Pyrantel. Do you have any suggestions as to how to give it to the squirrels and what does an average adult squirrel weigh?

[Mel1959]

Weights are really dependent on location within the country. In Florida our eastern grays weigh anywhere from 350-500gr. In the northern part of the country eastern grays weigh more....maybe upwards of 700gr. As you read on the page I sent with pyrantel dosing, raccoon rehabbers take the combined weight of the number of animals they are going to treat, draw up the appropriate dosage with a little extra allowing for waste and squirt it on their food. Fixing your wilds a bowl of food like corn, avocado (no skin or pit) and coconut chunks then squirting the medicine on it might be as precise as you’re gonna get. If you have a released squirrel you can handle I’d get some help approximating the weight and then just draw it into a syringe and squirt it in the mouth. You can post a picture of one of your wilds and folks that live in the northeast will probably be able to approximate the weight for you.

To dilute the strength of the human version of Pyrantel just add some water to it.

[deirdre425]

Weights are really dependent on location within the country. In Florida our eastern grays weigh anywhere from 350-500gr. In the northern part of the country eastern grays weigh more....maybe upwards of 700gr. As you read on the page I sent with pyrantel dosing, raccoon rehabbers take the combined weight of the number of animals they are going to treat, draw up the appropriate dosage with a little extra allowing for waste and squirt it on their food. Fixing your wilds a bowl of food like corn, avocado (no skin or pit) and coconut chunks then squirting the medicine on it might be as precise as you’re gonna get. If you have a released squirrel you can handle I’d get some help approximating the weight and then just draw it into a syringe and squirt it in the mouth. You can post a picture of one of your wilds and folks that live in the northeast will probably be able to approximate the weight for you.

To dilute the strength of the human version of Pyrantel just add some water to it.

Thank you again for your help. I really appreciate it. Here is a picture of Squibb (not sure if I did this correctly).

[Mel1959]

I have reached out to a member in the northeast alerting him to the post to have him approximate the weight of Squibb.

[Spanky]

Just my 2 cents... maybe worth only a penny... but employing the strategy of treating the raccoons, which is the primary source for infecting squirrels... seems much more productive than treating the squirrels.

Treating raccoons with Pyrantel Pamoate is relatively safe... and I question the effectiveness of Pyrantel Pamoate to prevent squirrels from contracting raccoon roundworm from... raccoons.

Dosing one racoon may protect numerable quirrels.

Treating one squirrel protects, maybe, ONE squirrel.

[Mel1959]

All things considered, it would be easy to treat raccoons. Simply put some purine puppy chow or leftover table scraps in a large bowl and put some Pyrantel on it. It’s really not necessary for the dose to be super precise. As I said there is a WIDE margin of safety. If you want to treat Squibb by himself, that’s entirely possible to do. I would guesstimate him to be at least 500gr. It’s almost impossible to overdose with Pyrantel, so you could err on the light side and dose accordingly.

[deirdre425]

All things considered, it would be easy to treat raccoons. Simply put some purine puppy chow or leftover table scraps in a large bowl and put some Pyrantel on it. It’s really not necessary for the dose to be super precise. As I said there is a WIDE margin of safety. If you want to treat Squibb by himself, that’s entirely possible to do. I would guesstimate him to be at least 500gr. It’s almost impossible to overdose with Pyrantel, so you could err on the light side and dose accordingly.

I was going to treat the raccoons, but I see two issues. The one issue is that the eggs of Baylisascaris can live in the ground for years and unfortunately (due to ignorance on my part) the raccoon poop has been in the woods where the squirrels forage for 9 years. The other issue is the amount of Pyrantel that I would need to dose over 30 coons. My estimate is that I would need around 225ml for around 450lbs of raccoons.

[Spanky]

I was going to treat the raccoons, but I see two issues. The one issue is that the eggs of Baylisascaris can live in the ground for years and unfortunately (due to ignorance on my part) the raccoon poop has been in the woods where the squirrels forage for 9 years. The other issue is the amount of Pyrantel that I would need to dose over 30 coons. My estimate is that I would need around 225ml for around 450lbs of raccoons.

How many squirrels do you have to treat to protect against the 9 years of poop in the woods?

[deirdre425]

How many squirrels do you have to treat to protect against the 9 years of poop in the woods?

I have about 13 squirrels.

[deirdre425]

All things considered, it would be easy to treat raccoons. Simply put some purine puppy chow or leftover table scraps in a large bowl and put some Pyrantel on it. It’s really not necessary for the dose to be super precise. As I said there is a WIDE margin of safety. If you want to treat Squibb by himself, that’s entirely possible to do. I would guesstimate him to be at least 500gr. It’s almost impossible to overdose with Pyrantel, so you could err on the light side and dose accordingly.

Mel1959 would anyone know the dosing schedule for preventative treatment with Nemex 2? I know that the raccoons are treated every 10 -14 days until release, but I am wondering how to dose my squirrels year round.