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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2017
It has been suggested that the periparturient breakdown of immunity to parasites has a nutritional basis (Coop and Kyriazakis, 1999). The often observed breakdown of immunity to abomasal nematodes in lactating sheep is indeed sensitive to metabolizable protein (MP) scarcity (Houdijk et al., 2003). However, a periparturient breakdown of immunity to intestinal nematodes is less likely to occur (Jackson et al., 1988). This discrepancy suggests that immunity to abomasal and intestinal nematodes may differ in their sensitivity to changes in MP supply. The objective of this experiment was to assess whether immunity to intestinal nematodes in lactating sheep is sensitive to MP supply.