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Wintering sheep and outside cattle are most likely
to show ill thrift or death but well fed milk cows are
not immune. They are more likely to show vague signs
of other diseases or just not milk as well as they should.
So how should you respond to this warning? Well the
easiest but maybe the most costly is just to treat your
stock with a flukicide which kills fluke of all ages
i.e. Fasinex and Combinex. But before spending your
money and time you may need convincing that treatment
is necessary.
Testing muck samples for fluke eggs relies on adults
being present and at this time of year that’s not
always the case and immature fluke can cause a lot of
damage before they grow up.
Blood tests for antibody levels only tell you if the
animal has been exposed to fluke in the past, not if
it is infected now. Feedback from the abattoir about
the state of your stock’s livers is a great way
to know if you have a problem and post mortem examinations
of poor or dead stock are also useful.
If the land is wet (and what land wasn’t this
year) then fluke are very likely. Rule of thumb is if
there are rushes, the snails and the fluke are there
too.
The history of disease on the farm is important. If
stock have been affected in previous years, they will
be again. Without great changes to grazing management,
fluke will not go away. If you need to control fluke
in your sheep then, unless the cattle are managed completely
differently, the cattle need treating too, because the
same species of liver fluke infects sheep and cattle.
If you would like any more advice on treating for fluke,
please contact the surgery.
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