News

This year has highlighted that there is no typical year for fluke. With a very dry spring in some regions followed by a wet summer, the timing of peak fluke risk this year could be different from normal and different across the country. Reports of cases of fluke have started to come in from some … Continued

Roundworms, liver fluke and lungworm are costing UK livestock producers £270 million in lost production and treatment expenditure every year, according to a new study to be published in the journal Preventive Veterinary Medicine. The study examined the economic burden of major parasitic worm infections on livestock across 18 European countries. At the sector level, … Continued

The Control of Worms Sustainably in cattle (COWS) group has published the final chapter in its updated Guide, bringing together key technical messages from other new chapters on roundworms, lungworm, liver and rumen fluke and ectoparasites. The Guide sits at the core of the COWS initiative – outlining the latest science relating to parasite control … Continued

Last winter may have seen a relatively low incidence of fluke across the UK, but there are still individual farms reporting problems with chronic fluke in sheep warn SCOPS/COWS experts. Whilst the UK may be on lockdown due to COVID-19, livestock farmers are warned that liver fluke is carrying on as normal. Despite the relatively … Continued

Cattle farmers should ensure their approach to treating youngstock for roundworms (Ostertagia and Cooperia) is sustainable, so that resistance to products does not develop in the same way as it has in sheep, says Westpoint farm vet Emily Francis based in Winchester. “Where nutrition is good and there are no other diseases present, gastro-intestinal worms … Continued