The amount of information available may be overwhelming at times, so here are some tips to help you get the most out of the guidelines and advice for parasite control programs.

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Pick Your Guideline and Use National Materials

Most of the guidelines cover a specific topic, including worm control, ectoparasites, and vector-borne diseases (VBDs). For example, guideline 4 covers diagnostic test options, so if you use specific guidelines to determine your routine testing needs, you can then reference the diagnostic guideline to look at the tests available.

The guidelines are large, so a range of smaller modular guidelines and fact sheets for specific parasites are also available. For example, if you need to know the risk factors of Toxocara, treatment prevention and the benefits of routine screening, a fact sheet is available. You can also review the life cycles of vector-borne parasites in a hurry, as the modular guideline lays them out in an easily accessible format. Parasite information and advice will often be specific to countries—on the ESCCAP website, a list of the national association websites is available with a wealth of country-specific sheets and information.

Tailor Your Approach to Your Veterinary Client and Country

The guidelines and national materials provide tailored information instead of addressing parasite control as a whole. The guidelines are invaluable when you need to access parasite control information on:

• Parasite species distribution. The guidelines contain maps for many parasites. The distribution of parasites is rapidly changing, and these maps demonstrate which parasites are endemic in certain areas based on the latest prevalence and recorded case data.
• Geographic risk factors. The guidelines have tables outlining geographic risk factors for the presence of parasites on a seasonal or habitat basis. Examples include ticks where activity is temperature-dependent and fleas where climate and humidity are major factors in the risk of pet exposure and year-round presence. For example, central heating in UK homes and milder temperatures mean that fleas are a year-round risk for all cats and dogs whereas this is not the case in some other European countries.
• Patient and lifestyle factors. Tables and flowcharts in the worm guideline outline the impact of age, lifestyle, and contact with high-risk groups when deciding on treatment and testing frequencies for these parasites.

Use the ESCCAP Guidelines as Educational Tools

Parasite life cycles and control needs can be difficult to explain to pet owners who do not have medical or veterinary backgrounds. The ESCCAP maps are useful to visually demonstrate to clients which parasites are present in their area and what control may be required. The illustrated life cycle guidelines are available as separate downloads to help explain how parasites are transmitted. They can also be used to demonstrate that not all parasite life stages are visible and that routine testing is required to prove their presence. Guideline-based fact sheets—such as the one produced by ESCCAP UK & Ireland outlining the benefits of routine testing—are particularly useful for explaining these concepts to clients.

Stay Up-to-Date On Parasite Information

Parasite distributions and prevalence data are frequently changing. ESCCAP guidelines are living documents and are constantly reviewed and updated. It's important to ensure the guideline version you have is the latest version, so be sure to check for updates from the ESCCAP or your national association.

Remember to Test and Ask Questions

The ESCCAP guidelines are crucial for providing optimal care to European veterinary patients and advice to their owners. Often, the focus of parasite control is whether to routinely treat for parasites and how frequently. Testing is also a vital component of parasite control and without it, much of the data used to create the guidelines would not exist. Whether parasite or VBD testing is performed alongside routine treatment or as an alternative, it aides in the monitoring of parasite distributions and treatment efficacy, which is invaluable to both veterinary professionals and pet owners.

The guidelines and fact sheets contain a wealth of information to help veterinarians and owners understand the intrinsic value of routine testing of pets for parasites. But parasite control can be complex, so if you have questions, don't hesitate to contact ESCCAP.