Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS)

Defra is working with the National Sheep Association (NSA) in an industry led initiative for the Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) which offers farmers and vets advice on how to combat the growing problem of anthelmintic resistance (AR) in the treatment of worm parasites.

Ectoparasites

As part of tackling the problem of AR it has been acknowledged that treatment for ectoparasites, such as sheep scab and lice, also place a burden on the products used to treat worm parasites and contribute to AR.

Leaflets:

Endoparasites

Worm parasites can cause serious problems in the sheep sector. Sustainable worm control practices need to be adopted to slow down the spread of resistance to existing veterinary medicine. The following leaflets have been produced by SCOPS in conjunction with Defra:

Farming Connect and Hybu Cig Cymru - Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) produced a Wormer Resistance “The need to change” booklet based on the Technical Manual which is available from the HCC web site (English version / Welsh version) (PDF 9 MB – please note that this is a very large file).

English Beef and Lamb Executive (Eblex) have produced a booklet “Target Worm Control for Better Returns” in collaboration with SCOPS  that can be viewed on the Eblex website (Login required).

Useful links

Page last reviewed: 7 August 2009
Page last modified: September 4, 2009