Update on liver fluke in sheep and cattle

Abstract

Fasciola hepatica, the common liver fluke, affects the health and welfare of grazing animals worldwide. Liver fluke infection has a significant economic cost to the UK agriculture industry through sheep deaths, reduced growth rates, fertility and milk production in sheep and cattle and condemned livers at the abattoir. Changing weather patterns in the UK over recent years have often resulted in milder winters and summers that may be hot or wet but are above all unpredictable, affecting the epidemiology of liver fluke. This poses a risk for farmers relying on traditional calendar-based treatment routines, who may be caught out by liver fluke risk periods that are longer and extend beyond what would traditionally have been expected. Triclabendazole resistance is an increasing problem in many parts of the country and with no new flukicides on the horizon, existing products need to be used responsibly to ensure they remain useful for as long as possible.