The Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) is pleased to announce the third installment in series three of its popular podcasts.
As the trend towards drier, hotter summers and warmer, wetter winters continues, the liver fluke season is shifting, and the time when grazing animals are picking up liver fluke off pasture is tending to be later but also extremely variable between farms.
“This means that traditional set treatment routines are becoming less and less likely to be effective” says Lesley Stubbings of SCOPS. “The variation across the country and between farms is huge, with reports of first infections ranging from early autumn to mid-winter. This means it is increasingly important to use the tests available to determine if, and when animals require a treatment.”
In this latest podcast. Lesley and guests discuss how farmers and their vets can use antibody detection early in the liver fluke ‘season’ to pinpoint when (or if) animals have become infected and time any treatment accurately.
Antibodies can be detected from as early as two weeks post infection while faecal based coproantigen or egg detection tests are useful much later in the season when the fluke are more mature inside the animal.
Lesley is joined by Prof. Diana Williams, University of Liverpool, Vet Phillipa Page from Flock Health Ltd and farmer Michael Rhodes from Lancaster. The panel discuss how to use antibody testing and the new Lateral Flow Test (LFT) developed by University of Liverpool which just requires a drop of blood and can be done quickly on farm.
Farmer Michael Rhodes says he has used a blood based antibody test for the last four years. “Despite being in what is locally known as a ‘flukey’ area, we have been able to use the test over the autumn and winter to show no fluke were present, and as a result have not had to treat.”
These join the existing episodes on the SCOPS principles. Find them all at www.scops.org.uk/podcasts or subscribe via Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.
