Liver fluke treatment in early autumn ‘no insurance’ for livestock
For several years, liver fluke has been increasing later in the autumn.
Key livestock groups have warned farmers to avoid treating their animals for liver fluke too early this autumn.
Instead, experts have advised farmers to use available testing to decide if they need to treat their animals, and when.
The advice has been shared by the Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) and Control of Cattle Parasites (COWS) groups. Both groups campaign for the responsible use of medicines, as they seek to prevent resistance against parasiticides.
John Graham-Brown, of the University of Liverpool, has reported that changeable weather patterns are demonstrating how variable the liver fluke challenge can be.
He explained that, for several years, the liver fluke challenge had been lower and later than is traditionally expected. Despite this, farmers are continuing to treat their livestock at the traditional time, which can mean treatments are given too early.
“This leaves livestock susceptible to disease, as the challenge typically increases through the autumn and into winter,” said Dr Graham-Brown, “There is no ‘insurance’ element associated with a fluke treatment given too soon.”
Scotland is similarly seeing a much later start to its liver fluke season, with the most significant evidence of disease appearing in later autumn.
Instead, farmers are advised to perform tests in late summer and autumn. This can either be a blood test or the new Lateral Flow Test (LFT), which both detect circulating antibodies to liver fluke.
When used on first season grazing animals, the tests can show ‘sentinels’ to identify if liver fluke is present in different groups or parts of the farm.
The test can be repeated every 3-4 weeks until the test either proves positive or is superceded by faecal methods. This should help farmers decide when to treat, avoiding unnecessary and costly treatments.
Lesley Stubbings, technical consultant at SCOPS, said: “The need to use testing to see if, and when, liver fluke is a threat, has never been more important,
“To help farmers and their advisers to adopt antibody testing early in the season, we have recently released a podcast on the subject, which sits alongside the other advice on the SCOPS and COWS websites, together with podcasts on liver fluke in general from previous seasons.”
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