Liver fluke has continued to have a presence in a considerable number of cattle herds across the country since early January.
To date this year (2024), records for 144,000 animals have been captured from 8,945 herds as part of the Beef Healthcheck programme, which is ran in partnership with Meat Industry Ireland (MII).
Of these animals, 39% were steers, 31% were heifers, 8% were young bulls, and the remainder were made up of cows and bulls.
So far this year, records of liver fluke, pneumonia and liver abscesses captured as part of the programme remain at similar levels to last year for the same period.
So far this year, 829 herds (9%) have had at least one animal with live liver fluke seen at slaughter, which is higher than last year for this period.
Live liver fluke was seen in 1.4% of animals and damage consistent with liver fluke was seen in 5.2% of animals.
The counties with the highest reported levels of live liver fluke were Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo, and Longford.
Dr. Natascha Meunier, Beef Healthcheck programme manager recommends that farmers with known fluke on farm should be vigilant and treat when needed after the particularly wet autumn last year (2023).
Since the programme began, 11% of herds that have slaughtered at least 10 animals in the programme have no reported signs of liver fluke, Dr. Meunier revealed.
In these herds, she said flukicide treatment “may not be needed”, which can “reduce unnecessary animal treatments”.
“It is always advised to discuss treatment protocols with your veterinary practitioner as part of a herd health plan,” Dr. Meunier added.
The Beef Healthcheck programme manager said that if cattle were housed over winter, liver fluke infection may have been untreated, or if treatment was ineffective, these animals may have adult fluke at this time of year.
Dr. Meunier said if animals were treated with a flukicide around housing and live liver fluke are present now, it could be that the flukicide treatment protocol “was not effective and needs to be reviewed”.
“Ensuring that there are no liver fluke parasites before turn-out will help to minimise pasture contamination with liver fluke eggs,” she added.