Liver fluke
Short Cuts is series of short videos highlighting animal health issues that affect sheep carcase quality and practical tips to avoid them.
There are 8 short videos covering the following topics:
- Sheep Vaccination
- Sheep Arthritis
- Bruising and Injury
- Sheep Pneumonia and pleurisy
- Sheep Measles and Worms
- Liver Fluke
- Grass seeds
- Cheesy Gland
Liver Fluke can cause lost production through ill thrift, sudden death, and bottle jaw. Liver Fluke enter through introduced livestock and waterways.
Check out this Short Cuts video from the Agriculture Victoria’s Red Meat Value Chain team for tips on how to manage Liver Fluke to prevent lost production and carcase damage.
Liver Fluke: Short Cuts - A series of short videos highlighting animal health issues that affect sheep carcase quality and practical tips to avoid them.
Who gives a fluke? You may not know much about liver fluke, but you should.
They cost the industry $25 million dollars a year.
Some of that is in condemned carcase components at the processor. But, most of that cost is directly on farm from lost production.
It's costing you dollars, and this can come in the form of ill thrift, sudden death or bottle jaw.
But where do liver fluke come from?
They enter your property through introduced livestock.
And they love permanent water.
Because they need a particular species of freshwater snail.
These snails are an important part of the fluke life cycle.
If you don't have liver fluke at your place, great, keep it that way with good Biosecurity.
So, what should we be doing?
Quarantine drench introduced stock with a drench combination that is effective for fluke control.
Fence off waterways. If you know you have fluke on the property. Monitor using the fluke test.
Treat affected stock with an effective drench. It's always easier to prevent them than it is to deal with them.
Being the best sheep producer you can be, isn't a fluke.
Let's keep the short cuts for the oven, not your farm.
Things to consider include:
- Develop a good biosecurity plan
- quarantine introduced livestock
- monitor using the fluke egg count test, abattoir reports or post mortem.
- drench if required
- fence of waterways
- check you have a suitable vaccination program
- Seek advice from your animal health professional such as a vet or consultant.
- Check the labels to ensure you use and store them correctly. Remember to keep records of what you use and when, to maintain your Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) accreditation.
The Liver Fluke is a large flat worm parasite that infects sheep and cattle. It requires two hosts to complete its lifecycle, specific small freshwater snails and a host such as sheep, cattle, goat etc.
Sheep are infected when they eat fluke larvae on pasture. Liver fluke is predominantly found in high rainfall and irrigated areas often described as ‘Flukey’ areas.
Sheep infected with liver fluke on farm will not perform and have reduced growth rates, reduced wool production, reduced lambing percentages, jaundice and bottle jaw where oedema develop under the jaw. The liver of the sheep that is infected with Fluke will have scarring, carcases may also present as jaundiced resulting in condemnation of part or all the carcase and liver. Seek advice on your vaccination regime to ensure you have adequate measures in place. If livers are damaged, it can result in other disease such as Black disease.
Implement your biosecurity plan and have quarantine, drench and monitor sheep that are introduced to your property if they are coming from a liver fluke area. Control snail habitat by fencing off swampy areas, improving drainage, fixing leaks to prevent wet areas. Provide clean trough water so sheep are not drinking from dams and swamps and drains to break the lifecycle.
Being the best sheep producer you can be, isn’t a Fluke!
Keep the Short Cuts for the oven, not the farm.
Articles – Liver Fluke
Podcast – Wormcasts: What happens when you take your finger off the pulse