Page 4 - 20140903 PC Rumen Fluke

PAGE 4 Rumen Fluke - the facts

Why does disease due to rumen fuke occur?

Catle appear to be more susceptble to rumen fuke infecton if they are young, sick or poorly nourished. However,
if there are very large numbers of infectve larvae on pasture such as in heavily grazed WET areas, all catle are
susceptble.

Grazing on damp or waterlogged pastures is also a signifcant risk factor, especially in a wet summer.

Grazing on waterlogged pastures and areas prone to fooding are also signifcant risk factors, especially in a wet summer.

Traditonally, the rumen fuke was not considered to be a signifcant parasite of Irish catle, mainly because it was only
seen in very low numbers, and was not associated with clinical disease. In recent years, however, a number of very
severe outbreaks, with multple fatalites, have focused atenton on the rumen fuke. The characteristc eggs have been
increasingly detected in faecal samples over the same period. This may be partly due to increased awareness of the
parasite and separate reportng by laboratories of liver fuke and rumen fuke eggs but recent examinaton of archived
samples indicate that the increase in incidence is real.