Free Fluke Test

[Old Tip]

Was sheep 1 done with combined ?

Yeah, Combinex, haven't used it for five years and probably won't again !

 

[Man_in_black]

I did the same in the end, was dreading the lady in the post office asking what was in my parcel and what value it had

I've had that when sending off FEC. New bloke asked then looked horrified as holding envelope.....then postmaster informed him you don't need to ask if envelope pre paid!!

 

[Shadow]

I think there needs to be some sort of interpretation of the results sent out rather than just a figure which on its own means nothing. With all bulk milk sample tests for fluke (antibody response) there has been a corresponding risk interpretation attached. Liver fluke is a big egg layer so single figure egg counts should/could mean low risk and no need to jump for the drugs or is your test different? Is yours s floatation test? If so, the result is magnified if I am correct, but by what and what is low, medium and high risk?

I was told the test uses the sedimentation method as fluke eggs don't show up reliably in the flotation test

 

[FlukEVal]

I think there needs to be some sort of interpretation of the results sent out rather than just a figure which on its own means nothing. With all bulk milk sample tests for fluke (antibody response) there has been a corresponding risk interpretation attached. Liver fluke is a big egg layer so single figure egg counts should/could mean low risk and no need to jump for the drugs or is your test different? Is yours s floatation test? If so, the result is magnified if I am correct, but by what and what is low, medium and high risk?

We use the sedimentation method to detect liver and rumen fluke eggs and the results given back are the number of eggs found in 10g of faeces. There are different types of floatation methods - the one commonly used for worm egg counts is a McMasters which uses a saturated salt solution, however fluke eggs are often too heavy to float in this and can be missed. Other methods of floatation are magnesium sulphate and sugar floats, however I have not used these before for fluke eggs.
As I said in the email with the results, I am not qualified to give advice on treatments - we were just offering the free fluke test, then if the samples were positive hoped you would contact your vet for advice on whether to treat or not.
If we had just given results as positive or negative I don't think that is very helpful to give an idea of the fluke burden. If say a sample has one fluke egg then that is a very low fluke burden and probably not necessary to treat for fluke however, if we had just said positive then you may have treated for fluke when it might not have been necessary.
http://www.scops.org.uk/content/Know-Your-Anthelmintics-2015-web-version.pdf

 

[GreenerGrass]

Thanks Flukeval for the test and results. Mine came back (v swiftly) negative, which matches ELISA test from last year. Hopefully farm is free from fluke, has a few wet patches which worry me, but so far so good.

 

[Keith_G]

We use the sedimentation method to detect liver and rumen fluke eggs and the results given back are the number of eggs found in 10g of faeces. There are different types of floatation methods - the one commonly used for worm egg counts is a McMasters which uses a saturated salt solution, however fluke eggs are often too heavy to float in this and can be missed. Other methods of floatation are magnesium sulphate and sugar floats, however I have not used these before for fluke eggs.
As I said in the email with the results, I am not qualified to give advice on treatments - we were just offering the free fluke test, then if the samples were positive hoped you would contact your vet for advice on whether to treat or not.
If we had just given results as positive or negative I don't think that is very helpful to give an idea of the fluke burden. If say a sample has one fluke egg then that is a very low fluke burden and probably not necessary to treat for fluke however, if we had just said positive then you may have treated for fluke when it might not have been necessary.
http://www.scops.org.uk/content/Know-Your-Anthelmintics-2015-web-version.pdf

Hi. We can easily interpret an EPG result from a faecal sample as to whether to treat or not but I am still unsure as an SQP how to determine your result? ie. is 3 fluke eggs in 10grms of faeces enough to cause concern and reach for a drug? How I would normally interpret such a low egg count if it were from a traditional Mcmaster test would be that there is nothing to worry about!
I have some experience with equine flotation tests and these used a 'Scale up' (example: 3 eggs present = 500 EPG) process and that is what I am trying to determine from you.
What ranges of egg numbers are you seeing - highest to lowest?
Believe me, I am not trying to be awkward but I have already had a customer of mine give me his results and i want to offer the correct advise with all the information to hand.
Appreciate your time in answering.
Regards. Keith

 

[Al R]

Thanks @FlukEVal !

Both negative, 1 was a sample I was worried about as the ewes (muleX) have to go down to the river to drink from. We're known to have had a fluke outbreak in the field above 12 years ago.
The other sample was from a much drier part of the farm (TexX ewes)

We are getting liver fluke showing up in the slaughter house with the lambs in June/July (3-5/100)

Thanks again!

 

[Downton_shep]

Hi. We can easily interpret an EPG result from a faecal sample as to whether to treat or not but I am still unsure as an SQP how to determine your result? ie. is 3 fluke eggs in 10grms of faeces enough to cause concern and reach for a drug? How I would normally interpret such a low egg count if it were from a traditional Mcmaster test would be that there is nothing to worry about!
I have some experience with equine flotation tests and these used a 'Scale up' (example: 3 eggs present = 500 EPG) process and that is what I am trying to determine from you.
What ranges of egg numbers are you seeing - highest to lowest?
Believe me, I am not trying to be awkward but I have already had a customer of mine give me his results and i want to offer the correct advise with all the information to hand.
Appreciate your time in answering.
Regards. Keith

I would think any fluke eggs present would warrant treatment. You don't want ewes dropping eggs all over your fields. Fluke don't lay eggs at regular intervals, just every now and again. That's why 0 egg count doesn't guarantee no fluke.

 

[Keith_G]

A single adult liver fluke can lay between 5,000 and 20,000 eggs per day, so a single digit count (unless a sediment test needs multiplying up?) can't warrant treatment surely?

 

[Downton_shep]

A single adult liver fluke can lay between 5,000 and 20,000 eggs per day, so a single digit count (unless a sediment test needs multiplying up?) can't warrant treatment surely?

That single digit count had to come from a adult liver fluke. So there has to be over 4990 eggs somewhere else?

 

[Keith_G]

Would you personally treat the whole flock based on 3 eggs being present in 10 grams of dung? All I am trying to find out is risk vs benefit. What does this test represent, is it an appropriate time of year to do the test, do adult fluke shed at this time of year or could you have a low count, ignore it but have a significant burden in the animal just waiting for a more appropriate time of year to spew on to the grazing? It kicks up loads of questions in my mind. The other method is you could just add to the over use of anthelmintics and blanket treat without questioning the risk vs benefit (as I said before...).

 

[Downton_shep]

Would you personally treat the whole flock based on 3 eggs being present in 10 grams of dung? All I am trying to find out is risk vs benefit. What does this test represent, is it an appropriate time of year to do the test, do adult fluke shed at this time of year or could you have a low count, ignore it but have a significant burden in the animal just waiting for a more appropriate time of year to spew on to the grazing? It kicks up loads of questions in my mind. The other method is you could just add to the over use of anthelmintics and blanket treat without questioning the risk vs benefit (as I said before...).

With liver fluke yes I would treat the group tested. Rumen fluke no I wouldn't.
If the group we tested came back positive I would use closantel at turn out but ours was negative.

 

[Half Pipe]

we were had cattle losing condition in January, so had been testing earlier this year for fluke, or usual test facility just say positive or negative these days.
we sent 6 individual cattle samples all positive for fluke and 5 positive for rumen fluke.
we had suspected fluke resistance, so treated most of herd with levafas diamond leaving 3 fit cows as a control group that were retreated with fasinex (we had used fasinex about 5-6wks after housing)
we chose the 3 fit cows as didn't want to risk leaving some of the leaner ones.
dung samples were taken from the 3 just before treating with fasinex.
3 positive for liver and 2 positive for rumen as well.
we used @FlukEVal free test kit to test 1 of the control cows and 1 that had previously tested positive and since treated with levafas diamond

cow 1 138 liver eggs 183 rumen
cow 2 negative for both

 

[FlukEVal]

Hi. We can easily interpret an EPG result from a faecal sample as to whether to treat or not but I am still unsure as an SQP how to determine your result? ie. is 3 fluke eggs in 10grms of faeces enough to cause concern and reach for a drug? How I would normally interpret such a low egg count if it were from a traditional Mcmaster test would be that there is nothing to worry about!
I have some experience with equine flotation tests and these used a 'Scale up' (example: 3 eggs present = 500 EPG) process and that is what I am trying to determine from you.
What ranges of egg numbers are you seeing - highest to lowest?
Believe me, I am not trying to be awkward but I have already had a customer of mine give me his results and i want to offer the correct advise with all the information to hand.
Appreciate your time in answering.
Regards. Keith

The number of eggs is not multiplied up - I process 10g of mixed faeces, then count the number of eggs and this is the result given. The highest number of liver fluke eggs I have seen so far is about 800 to the lowest being just 1 egg and the highest rumen fluke count is about 400 eggs in 10g.
The advice would be different from farm to farm - for some farms a fluke test at this time of year might not be so useful, whereas some farms might find it useful if they've treated there animals in jan/feb time to see if treatment has been successful. There have also been farms that would have treated but samples came back negative which reduces the overuse of anthelmintics and saves money of flukicides.
It is unlikely that there are many active snails around at the moment especially with the recent drop in temperature, so if there aren't many snails about they won't be shedding metacercariae onto the pasture. Although with the mild winter it is possible some metacercariae have survived over the winter. So a fluke test may be more useful to farms late spring/autumn time - allowing for the 10-12 weeks it takes for the adult fluke to start laying eggs. The sedimentation method definitely has its negatives as well as its positives - as it only detects mature fluke, if you suspect infection at an early stage an ELISA test may be more appropriate.
If possible it is best to have a management plan - not just treatment but moving livestock to lower risk pasture during fluke times or fencing off particularly wet areas of the field. I know this is an ideal and not always possible.

 

[Keith_G]

Excellent response, thank you. As an SQP it is important to know the limit of diagnostic test so we can prescribe effectively, that was the point that I was trying to make. So thank you for clearing it up. Keith

 

[nelly55]

Spoke to our vets over results,having treated one yard of cows with clear results ,the other yard had a low count of 1 egg.Our new vets just done our health Plan,and advised treatment at least two months after housing to catch immature fluke.Our old girls seem to run off more ,because they insist on feeding more than their own calves,and I was thinking fluke .

 

[Old Tip]

The number of eggs is not multiplied up - I process 10g of mixed faeces, then count the number of eggs and this is the result given. The highest number of liver fluke eggs I have seen so far is about 800 to the lowest being just 1 egg and the highest rumen fluke count is about 400 eggs in 10g.
The advice would be different from farm to farm - for some farms a fluke test at this time of year might not be so useful, whereas some farms might find it useful if they've treated there animals in jan/feb time to see if treatment has been successful. There have also been farms that would have treated but samples came back negative which reduces the overuse of anthelmintics and saves money of flukicides.
It is unlikely that there are many active snails around at the moment especially with the recent drop in temperature, so if there aren't many snails about they won't be shedding metacercariae onto the pasture. Although with the mild winter it is possible some metacercariae have survived over the winter. So a fluke test may be more useful to farms late spring/autumn time - allowing for the 10-12 weeks it takes for the adult fluke to start laying eggs. The sedimentation method definitely has its negatives as well as its positives - as it only detects mature fluke, if you suspect infection at an early stage an ELISA test may be more appropriate.
If possible it is best to have a management plan - not just treatment but moving livestock to lower risk pasture during fluke times or fencing off particularly wet areas of the field. I know this is an ideal and not always possible.

Always makes me laugh when folk say move stock to low risk pasture or fence off wet areas, where I live the only dry bits are the rocks !

 

[nelly55]

What's dry land

 

[Old Tip]

What's dry land

I thought the sun always shone in Yorkshire