News


Things to do at housing

Steps you should be taking now to protect your herd

Beef

  • Check if youngstock needs worming for gut worms at housing using faecal egg counts (FECs). If infection risk is high, use a product that contains a macrocyclic lactone (ML) to kill off inhibited Ostertagia worms to reduce the risk of Type ll ostertagiosis later in the winter. Adult cattle should not require any treatment for gut worms.
  • There is no natural immunity to liver fluke, so all ages of stock must be assessed for treatment where there is a history, or risk of infection. Check fluke forecasts and abattoir returns to monitor presence of fluke
  • Blood test a group of first season grazing calves (as sentinels) two weeks after housing to check whether they have been in contact with liver fluke in the summer

Dairy

  • Check if youngstock needs worming for gut worms at housing using faecal egg counts (FECs). If infection risk is high, use a product that contains macrocyclic lactone (ML) to kill off inhibited Ostertagia worms to reduce the risk of Type ll ostertagiosis later in the winter. Adult cattle should not require any treatment for gut worms
  • Take a bulk milk sample to test if the milking herd has been exposed to liver fluke.
  • There is no natural immunity to liver fluke, so all ages of stock must be assessed for treatment where there is a history, or risk of infection. Check fluke forecasts and use abattoir returns to monitor presence of fluke

Resources

Vet, academic or researcher?

Take a look in Resources for more detailed information on all topics.

For all editorial enquiries please contact Sara Gregson email: sara@saragregson.co.uk

Fluke on black background

COWS SCOPS update on Rafoxanide use against liver fluke

 2nd October 2023

In recent years there has been confusion around rafoxanide, especially with respect to its use as an alternative to closantel on farms where triclabendazole resistance is suspected.   In the light of a product containing rafoxanide recently being licensed in the UK (POM-V) for use in sheep as a treatment for adult liver fluke, SCOPS … Continued

Pic of tick

Climate and management changes may increase red water disease

 27th July 2023

Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) veterinary investigation officer Harriet McFadzean presented findings from her 2021 MSc project from the University of Edinburgh, on surveillance and risk analysis for bovine babesiosis at a recent COWS Steering Group meeting. Babesiosis, colloquially known as red water disease because of the colour of affected animals’ urine, is caused … Continued

Lungworm in a lung

Learn about lungworm

 7th June 2023

Mark Pass is the lead SQP for the Willows Veterinary Group and has recently joined the Control of Worms Sustainably (COWS) steering group. He has just completed an MSc thesis on lungworm and feels there is much that can be done to reduce the increasing number of cases being seen on dairy farms across the … Continued

CANTER launches to counter growing worm resistance in horses

 15th March 2023

CANTER: a new pan-industry group to combat wormer resistance in UK equines CANTER (Controlling ANTiparasitic resistance in Equines Responsibly) brings together voluntary representation from the widest reaches of the equine sector. This includes leading experts in the field across prescribers, diagnostics providers, pharmaceutical companies, trade organisations, technical experts, horse owners, charities, and policy makers. All … Continued

Confusion over rumen fluke and liver fluke

 15th March 2023

New research shows farmer confusion over the diagnosis and control of rumen fluke and liver fluke. Despite rumen flukes being present in Great Britain for 50 years or more, it is only in the past decade that they have been regarded as potentially pathogenic parasites. This may coincide with the establishment of Calicophoron daubneyi as … Continued

Rumen fluke

Do not overreact to rumen fluke figures in faecal egg count results

 14th February 2023

The inclusion of rumen fluke figures in faecal egg count sample results is not necessarily a cause for concern, according to experts in the Control of Cattle Parasites Sustainably (COWS) and Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) groups. COWS and SCOPS has been working hard to encourage livestock producers to use faecal egg counts (FECs) … Continued