Xenointoxication

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Xenointoxication is a form of pest control in which an ectoparasite's host animal is dosed with a substance that is poisonous to the parasite. When the parasite feeds on its host, it is poisoned, and eventually dies.

An example of this strategy is the experimental use of oral ivermectin in humans to kill bed bugs and parasitic worms.[1][2] This technique has also been used to combat other ectoparasites.[3][4]

This method was unsuccessful in a 1969 study attempting to control Triatoma infestans in chicken houses because even though some bugs that fed on the treated birds did die, so did the birds, and the birds that survived produced fewer eggs.[5]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Donald G. McNeil Jr. (December 31, 2012). "Pill Could Join Arsenal Against Bedbugs". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  2. Donald G. McNeil Jr. (February 16, 2013). "Pet pill could join arsenal against bedbugs". Statesmen. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  3. Tonya W. Padron (May 16, 2013). "How To Protect from Bed Bugs". Bed Bug Guide. Retrieved 13 March 2014.


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