In the following sections, we will explore the latest changes to ESCCAP guideline 1 and provide guidance for smoothly incorporating these revisions into your daily clinical practice.

The Oldest Guideline Gets an Update

Guideline 1 covers risk-based parasite control, including prevention, faecal diagnostics, and treatment strategies for intestinal and vector-borne worms. Worms covered include zoonotic pathogens like Echinococcus spp. tapeworms and Toxocara roundworm, and highly pathogenic species to pets, such as Angiostrongylus vasorum. The guideline is frequently updated to add new data and reflect changes in treatment and testing strategies. Veterinary teams must stay up to date on parasite control protocols and the roles of testing and treating. This enables them to give pet owners clear, evidence-based advice on deworming schedules, testing frequency, and exposure risk.

How the New Guidance Impacts Daily Practice

Key changes in the latest edition of the guideline include:

Updated Deworming Schemes and Advice for Faecal Testing

Deworming at least four times a year is still recommended for cats and dogs with outdoor access, and it should be increased to monthly for high-risk pets. For intestinal roundworms, diagnostic testing is suggested as an alternative to routine treatments at a similar frequency, dependent on risk. This approach should be adopted in countries where routine treatments are not acceptable for legislative reasons. The importance of faecal screening of pets on treatment is also emphasised in the guideline.

New Lungworm Guidance

This emphasises the need for diagnostic surveillance in high-risk cats and dogs or those exhibiting relevant clinical signs. Surveillance helps assess the prevalence of lungworm types in each area and improves prognosis by enabling prompt diagnosis and treatment. Monthly preventative measures for high-risk pets are also highlighted. A new cat lungworm lifecycle diagram is available for Aelurostrongylus lovers.

Expanded Guidance on Raw Meat Diets

This section covers the risk of parasite transmission via raw meat and offal if not adequately pre-frozen. These include the zoonotic dog tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus, various Taenia tapeworm species, roundworms such as Toxocara spp., and protozoa such as Toxoplasma gondii, Sarcocystis spp., and Neospora caninum. The guideline emphasises that the risk of dogs and cats becoming infected with these and other pathogens via raw diets is still unquantified but very real. It is therefore important that meat and offal intended for raw consumption are kept frozen at -17°C to -20°C for at least one week. In addition, meat should be sourced locally, as importing it may introduce pathogens not endemic to the region. If the freezing status of raw meat and offal is unknown, routine faecal testing every four weeks or prophylactic deworming with a roundworm-specific product is recommended. Due to the low certainty of detection of tapeworm infections using faecal tests (particularly risk for Echinococcus), treatment against tapeworms is always advisable.

Expanded Section on Dogs and Cats Living in or Travelling to Specific Geographical Areas

These cats and dogs may be at increased risk of acquiring infections that occur in novel geographical areas and then moving them to new locations. Non-endemic diseases can pose a diagnostic challenge for veterinary surgeons unfamiliar with them. Dogs imported from areas endemic to particular parasites (e.g., E. multilocularis) should be promptly visited by a veterinary surgeon and treated with an appropriate anthelmintic. Diagnostic faecal and blood screening for a range of parasites is also recommended and detailed in ESCCAP guideline 9.

Changes to Faecal Testing Advice

Support for faecal testing is emphasised, including:

Faecal testing alongside treatment:

The guideline states that without diagnostics, we can only estimate the animal's situation and recommended deworming frequency. Faecal testing with routine treatment allows assessment of owner compliance, checks if deworming frequency is sufficient (e.g., monthly versus quarterly), and serves as an early detection method for drug resistance. Without testing, we are blind to whether treatments and control strategies are effective.

Antigen testing and coprophagy:

Antigen testing is mentioned as a means of detecting infection in the pre-patent phase and as a way to eliminate false positives, which can occur with flotation techniques when dogs are coprophagic. The guideline highlights that false-positive coproscopic findings are relatively common in coprophagic dogs when flotation is used. Such cases can be identified via alternative analysis, such as coproantigen tests, or by avoiding coprophagy prior to sampling.

The Value of High-Impact Testing in Daily Practice

Testing brings value to veterinary practices. It establishes the infection status of pets, both on and off routine treatment, and helps identify local parasite cases. This information is invaluable for assessing risk and setting up control programmes. Testing also contributes to country and Europe-wide data through test results maps, such as those launched by ESCCAP.

ESCCAP guidelines and updates go beyond academic exercises. They deliver the latest parasite information and expert advice—guiding veterinary surgeons in protecting pets, owners, and the public from new parasite threats. By integrating these evidence-based recommendations into practice, veterinary teams provide clients with up-to-date advice, ensuring the best possible parasite control.