Parasite Control: Liver Fluke

Liver fluke or Fasciola hepatica is a common parasite of livestock. A liver fluke infection causes ill health, as well as a reduction in growth rates and reproductive performance in affected livestock. Over recent years it has been acknowledged that the presence of liver fluke in the UK has increased and that the periods of risk for infections have become longer, as well as more difficult to predict. As fluke thrive in wet and mild climates, the increasing prevalence of the parasite in the UK has been attributed to climate change. The increased number of wet years recently experienced has improved habitats for the intermediate liver fluke host – the mud snail. Scientific modelling has suggested that Wales will be one of the EU higher risk regions for fasciolosis in the future. Furthermore, flukicide resistance and confusion over various flukicide activities is leading to poor control. These facts call for improvements in farm management practices and treatments as well as the development of vaccines or new treatments for the control of fasciolosis. There is also an urgent need for tried and tested control protocols to be more widely adopted by farmers.