The university of puerto rico, agricultural experiment station has a small allocation from the ahdr program to further animal health and disease research in the island

At present only one project is being funded under this program with the objective of assesing dewarming efficacy in small ruminant farmers in puerto rico. Parasite management remains one of the primary challenges in small ruminant production. Due to puerto rico's tropical climate, higher parasite burdens are observed throughout the year. In the absence of freezing temperatures, parasite larvae are able to survive in the environment year-round. Additionally, the island's high humidity levels allow infective larvae to persist longer in pastures, further increasing the risk of infection. Small ruminant farmers, agronomists, students and extension agents are the targeted beneficiaries from this effort. Project activities include the survey of 10 producers around the island to obtain the most used techniques and drug combinations. The study will include the evaluation of the effectiveness of each protocol as well as the drug choices using fecal EGG counts (FEC). Also, the relationship between FEC and packed cell volume will be determined. The evaluation includes total protein, body condition score and famacha score. Deliverables include determining the best deworming practices and parasite prevention strategies and present these results to the farmers with informal presentations and flyers/handouts. The principal outcome expected from this project is an increased awareness and understandimg of deworming and parasite prevention strategies for small ruminants in the tropics.