"Even though many parts of the UK have had a recent cold snap, there could still be active infection on flukey areas which could quickly ramp up if we have a mild spell." Says Dr Philip Skuce of Moredun. "Farmers should continue testing and monitoring livestock and remember that a treatment given in the autumn or early winter offers no protection against further infection. There is no such thing as an insurance policy", he adds.
Ben Strugnell, of Farm Post Mortems echoes this. "I have seen very little evidence of liver fluke in post mortems so far this winter, but there is still plenty of time for the challenge to build and pose a threat. Investigating deaths in livestock is key because we will always check for evidence of liver fluke, so never waste a dead sheep".
Heather Stevenson (SAC) and Rebecca Mearns (APHA) also confirm that, to date, they have seen few instances of disease due to liver fluke. "Our concern is that this lulls people into a false sense of security. We don’t want to see cases in late winter, or even early spring, because we’ve taken our eye off things," says Heather.
Rebecca warns of the dangers of movements to different grazing which may have a higher risk of liver fluke. "Even if stock have been treated previously, flukicides have no residual effect (persistency), so stock are vulnerable and should be monitored using the tests available."
Test Don’t Guess
Testing is key to deciding whether to treat and when. Now that we are into January, faecal testing methods* (coproantigen or fluke egg detection) are most appropriate in the majority of cases. However, farmers are urged to discuss testing with their vet or animal health adviser.
www.cattleparasites/org.uk
https://scops-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/when-should-you-suspect-a-wormer-hasnt-been-fully-effective-what-should-you-do-and-how-can-you-check-Vfj_c18L
https://www.scops.org.uk/internal-parasites/liver-fluke/
https://www.scops.org.uk/podcasts-resources/
www.cattleparasites/org.uk
*The faecal testing methods, coproantigen and fluke egg detection, can only detect infection from around 8 weeks and 10 weeks, respectively, post-infection. We recommend these tests are used later in the autumn and over winter.
SCOPS/COWS would like to thank the labs and partners who have provided feedback on submissions: APHA; SRUC; Farm Post-Mortems; Biobest; Axiom; Techion; University of Liverpool and Moredun.