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AN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF OVINE FASCIOLIASIS (FASCIOLA HEPATICA) ON BOTH IRRIGATED AND NON‐IRRIGATED PASTURES IN NORTHERN VICTORIA
Author(s) -
Meek A. H.,
Morris R. S.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
australian veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1751-0813
pISSN - 0005-0423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-0813.1979.tb15857.x
Subject(s) - fasciola hepatica , biology , veterinary medicine , fasciola , helminths , agronomy , epidemiology , medicine , zoology , pathology
SUMMARY: Tracer sheep were used to determine the temporal distribution of acquisition of F. hepatica on both irrigated and non‐irrigated areas an area of northern Victoria where this parasite is endemic, for the period November 1974 to November 1976. Throughout the study, very few flukes were acquired on the non‐irrigated experimental area, and of this small number most were acquired by sheep in late spring and early summer. Flukes were acquired throughout both experimental years on the irrigated experimental area. The intensity of infection was lowest in late winter and early spring, but acquisition was substantial when measured over a year, being 483.5 in the first year and 1234.6 flukes per sheep in the second year. The productivity of these animals was lower than that of equivalent animals kept on an area free of fluke, but quantitative interpretation of this information is confounded by the effect of the presence of an area with atypically high moisture levels (the snail habitat) on pasture production in the area grazed by the infected animals. The differences recorded are therefore likely to be underestimates of the true difference. A suitable treatment regimen for control of liver fluke in sheep in northern Victoria is outlined.