Efficacy of a novel topical combination of esafoxolaner, eprinomectin and praziquantel against adult cat flea Ctenocephalides felis and flea egg production in cats

Abstract

Esafoxolaner, a purified enantiomer of afoxolaner with insecticidal and acaricidal properties, is combined with eprinomectin and praziquantel in NexGard® Combo, a novel topical endectoparasiticide formulation for cats. The efficacy of this novel formulation against adult and immature stages of Ctenocephalides felis fleas was tested in four experimental studies. Two studies were designed to test adulticide efficacy, one to test inhibition of immature stages, and one to test both adulticide efficacy and inhibition of immature stages. In each study, cats were randomly allocated to a placebo control group or to a novel formulation group treated once at the minimum recommended dose. Cats were experimentally infested weekly for one to two months with unfed C. felis originating from North America or Europe. For adulticide efficacy evaluations, live fleas were counted 24 h after treatment and after subsequent weekly infestations. For immature stages, flea eggs were collected and counted weekly for evaluation of egg production inhibition and incubated for larval hatching evaluation. In the three studies testing adult fleas, curative efficacies, 24 h after treatment, were 92.1%, 98.3% and 99.7%; preventive weekly efficacies, 24 h after weekly infestations, remained higher than 95.5% for at least one month. In the two studies testing immature stages, egg production and larval hatching was significantly reduced for at least one month. These studies provide robust evidence of efficacy of the novel formulation against experimental adult flea infestations and for the prevention of environmental contamination by immature flea stages, for at least one month.