Abstract

Control of parasitic infections in animals and humans currently relies on mass drug administration of a limited number of anthelmintics. However, this is not sustainable due to the emergence and spread of anthelmintic resistance. Haemonchus contortus is a highly pathogenic gastrointestinal nematode of small ruminants, which is becoming increasingly difficult to control due to multi-drug resistance. The mechanisms underlying anthelmintic resistance are generally poorly understood, with studies comparing resistant and sensitive parasites confounded by high levels of genetic diversity within and between and populations. To overcome this, we crossed a well-characterised multi-drug resistant isolate of H. contortus with a drug susceptible isolate to study resistance to three major anthelmintic classes, while controlling for background variation. In this talk I will focus on our genomic and transcriptomic analyses of ivermectin resistance and describe ongoing work investigating the evolution of multi-drug resistance in H. contortus and related parasites.

This talk will be broadcasted via Zoom. Please use this link to gain access.