Liver fluke: the sheep feature on page 38 gives details of this week’s liver fluke forecast released by the Department of Agriculture. It highlights a high risk of prevalence on the western half of the country, midlands and northern regions.

The advice from veterinary specialists when developing a liver fluke control programme is to refrain from the continual use of the same product and to alternate between different active ingredients to stem the rate of resistance developing.

The Sustainable Control of Parasites, or SCOPS, grouping in the UK released a technical note in 2023 regarding the potential use of rafoxanide as an alternative to other flukicides. The note stated that in recent years there has been confusion around rafoxanide with respect to its use as an alternative ingredient to closantel, with this particularly under the spotlight where resistance to trichlabendazole was suspected and as a result farmers had stopped using this active ingredient.

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The health advisory body explained that rafoxanide is what is known as a salicylanilide anthelmintic and that other products in this class include closantel and oxyclozanide.

And therefore rafoxanide is not a different class of flukicide, with the two similar in chemical structure and mode of action. This needs to be considered when planning your fluke control programme.

While on the topic of rafoxanide, the summary of product characteristics for Ridafluke lists up to 83% effectiveness against four week-old immature fluke with this, dependent on the appropriate dose rate being administered.

The SPC for Ranide lists that it is active against mature and immature fluke over eight weeks of age. However, licence holders Univet claim a reported efficacy ranging from 45% to 98% against four-week old immature fluke, and 85% to 99% against six-week old immature fluke.

Antiparasitics regulation: from 1 December 2025, a veterinary prescription will be required for all antiparasitic veterinary medicinal products for food producing animals. This means that a veterinary prescription will be required to purchase commonly used items such as flukicides, wormers, pour-ons, etc. There are some farmers considering purchasing large volumes of product before the new regulation comes in to place.

There is no merit in purchasing surplus product, as there will be a tendency to use it when you have it on hand and, as well as being an unnecessary cost, it will also lead to product being used when it may not be needed and add to the pressure of resistance developing.

The preferred approach is to sit down and review what products were used over the last 12 months and what product you have on hand. This will give an opportunity to plan exactly what products are required. Where purchasing products that will not be used in the short-to-medium-term, then it is important to ensure that withdrawal date are sufficient. It is also worth speaking to your normal supplier as to their plans in dealing with the new regulation.

Lameness pre-housing: it is important to assess ewes and to segregate and treat any lame ewes in advance of housing to reduce the risk of issues spreading indoors.

The optimum scenario is where ewes can remain outdoors or be housed in a separate area for targeted treatment. This starts with identifying the cause of lameness as standard foot bathing alone will not treat sheep that may require antibiotic treatment to treat CODD, footrot etc.