With farmers facing significant livestock losses from liver fluke, Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Beef & Lamb and Moredun Research Institute is acting to help improve understanding and develop effective control methods.
Livestock become infected by eating grass contaminated with fluke cysts shed from mud snails found in damp, marshy areas of pasture.
Infection is very common and even low levels can lead to serious losses in production.
It causes severe liver damage, especially in sheep and can result in the sudden death of previously healthy animals.
The disease is also responsible for considerable economic losses, estimated at around £50 million in Scotland alone, due to direct production losses, poor reproductive performance and livers condemned at slaughter.
Image source: Moredun Research Institute
As part of the campaign, AHDB will unveil a new animated video at the National Sheep Association (NSA) Sheep Event 2018.
The footage will demonstrate to farmers the importance of having an appreciation of the liver fluke life cycle, as well as available diagnostic, treatment and control options that are key to fluke risk assessment and sustainable control on-farm.
Ask the abattoir to look for fluke
Katie Thorley, AHDB senior knowledge transfer manager, said: “The video will help make farmers more aware of the potential losses they could face by not putting an effective control plan in place to prevent liver fluke disease.
As the symptoms can often be hard to spot, it’s important to speak to the abattoir to check the condition of livers and then discuss it with your vet to make sure you are treating an outbreak correctly.”
The video will be launched at 2:00pm on stand number 148 at the NSA Sheep Event on July 18.
For more information on effective control of liver fluke in livestock view the AHDB Beef Diseases Directory and Sheep Diseases Directory or visit the liver fluke research page of the Moredun website.
