@conference {79020,
	title = {Are faecal egg counts approaching their "sell-by" date?},
	booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	volume = {72},
	year = {2012},
	month = {Jan},
	pages = {199-204},
	publisher = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	organization = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	address = {Christchurch},
	abstract = {Historically, the primary determinant for the state of parasitism has been the concentration of nematode eggs in the faeces (FEC). This descriptor has a number of limitations that have implications for the development of drug resistance and hamper the identification of resilient livestock. A major fallacy is that FEC can reliably assess the worm burden, the need for anthelmintic and the efficacy of that treatment. FEC is a ratio, eggs per gram of faeces, not a quantity. Not only is the denominator ignored but interpretation of the numerator requires knowledge of nematode species present and female fecundity which can be affected by infra-population dynamics. By definition, a parasite exists at the expense of its host. As such, the consistent ability of resilient animals to maintain performance, despite a high FEC, strongly suggests that FEC does not provide a reliable indicator of the cost of parasitism. This manuscript reviews the factors that affect FEC and argues for a step change in our approach to the control of nematode parasitism in pastoral systems to one focused on individual treatments based on animal performance utilising radio-frequency electronic identification and automated weighing and drafting systems.},
	issn = {1176-5283},
	author = {Greer AW and Sykes AR}
}
