Rumen Fluke Treatment

winterwonder wrote: »

I think this is the only one that treats rumen fluke or am I wrong?

Your correct Zanil is the only one to kill stomach fluke, it's out of stock with all suppliers in my area, will not be available with any of them until very late feb or early march. Luckily I got mine early some of the neighbours are really trying hard to get their hands on it but can't.

michelle.shelle wrote: »

I think there is a veterinary formulation called levafas or something like that

Levafas diamond.
Zanil can't be got in the country for love nor money!;) Not surprising considering no one heard of stomach fluke until about 3 years ago. Surprising though the pharma company hasn't upped production as it appears there is good demand for it!

Just out of interest has anybody had confirmed cases of rumen fluke?

I asked the vet in our local factory what he thought and he was extremly dismissive about rumen fluke - he felt it was a 'miniscule risk'.

Then i met a rep from Norbrook who manufacture Levafas. He said the reason that rumen fluke has become such an issue was because it is spread by the water snail which had grown hugely in numbers from the wet years we had previously.

hard to know if its all hype...

dar31 wrote: »

got 10 samples done in the spring all had traces of rumen fluke and liver fluke, over half had a high burden. milk tank samples taken 2 months back showed a high burden still. will monitor tank every 2/3 months from now on.
never had fluke problems till 12 months ago, serious problem cost dearly.
some of our ground is wet, but not the west wet.
previously would only have used 500ml of trodax about every 3 years on 400 head.
reaaly caught us off guard around x mas time, all our heifers suffered badly, luckly didnt loose any.

Hi Dar31,

I am curious about the milk tank sample testing for fluke:

1. If it is a test for antibodies, then surely it is just telling you about the previous infection (which you have presumable cleared with a dose). How long do antibodies take to appear in milk of infected cows, and how soon do they disappear after treatment? Totally open to contradiction here, but I would have a strong personal preference for checking dung samples for fluke eggs - old fashioned but robust and easier to interpret. If fluke eggs are detected in a dung sample the animal has fluke. If no fluke eggs are detected, it could still have immature flukes, but you are probably in the clear.

2. I understand that the bulk tank test can only tell you about liver fluke (subject to point 1 above), but it can tell you nothing about the rumen fluke. Is this correct?

3. How much does the milk test cost?

Sorry for all the questions, I just think that parasites are fascinating, if a bit frustrating.


Thanks

LostCovey

reilig wrote: »

Whelan can you use Rafazole, Flukex, or Ridafluke? All have the same ingredient as the Zanil (rafoxanide). It might be worth checking with your vet. As Red_Marauder said above, it is made by Chanelle veterinary in Loughrea. If your vet approves what Red Marauder said above then I can check it out with chanelle for you as I know someone working there. But almost anything that they sell needs a prescription now.

I see farmrite sold out of the zanil which shows that a lot of southern farmers got prescriptions and went to them. Maybe there's another UK or northern ireland seller that will sell to you if you get a prescription from your own vet??

No rafoxanide won't do it Reilig. Oxyclozanide is the only product licenced in Ireland that will kill rumen flukes, Rafoxanide definitely does not. However a lot of people do not seem to realise that Oxyclozanide is in more products than just Zanil - e.g. the Levafas Diamond example given above.

LostCovey

LostCovey

snowman707 wrote: »

I'd advise anyone who may think their stock is at risk from stomach fluke to consult their vet.

Some of the information given on this thread is utter bullsh1t

Well, yes, that is true snowman707.

But if you don't specify which of the information you think is bullsh1t, and leave us to guess, you're not adding very much to the discussion are you?


LostCovey

whelan1 wrote: »

thanks lc another thread lost:mad:

Don't be so predictable whelan1.

If a discussion upsets you, you should not feel compelled to join it, but as you are here, you are welcome to join in. If you have anything to say

If you have nothing to say but whinge about who is involved, you are still welcome.

Nice to see you are still around.

LostCovey

As far as I can determine, the following is the complete current list of licenced products on the Irish market that can kill rumen flukes (i.e. contain oxyclozanide at the proper concentration). If there are others, I would be interested to hear about them.

Best regards,

LostCovey


Listed as Trade Name /Licence Holder = manufacturer usually / IMB Licence Number / Active Ingredient
LEVAFAS C FLUKE AND WORM DRENCH Oral Suspension Norbrook Laboratories Limited 10999/042/001 Oxyclozanide
LEVAFAS DIAMOND FLUKE AND WORM DRENCH Oral Suspension Norbrook Laboratories Limited 10999/036/001 Oxyclozanide
NILZAN DRENCH PLUS Oral Suspension Schering Plough Limited 10277/027/001 Oxyclozanide
PHARMAZAN C ORAL SUSPENSION 1.5/3.0/0.382 Oral Suspension Chem-Pharm 10823/020/001 Oxyclozanide
ZANIL FLUKE DRENCH 3.4 Oral Suspension Schering Plough Limited 10277/043/001 Oxyclozanide

reilig wrote: »

Sorry, Just reading your post again and I realise that I missed out on the above point that you made which shows that you and I agree. But I feel that the advice that you are giving to people is not to dose cattle for immature fluke?? Is it?? While immature fluke will rarely cause death in cattle, it will result in significant losses in condition and growth - people need to be advised to dose for it, especially in young cattle. On my farm I don't just dose to prevent death - my dosing policy is also based around cattle thriving and growth.

No worries Reilig, it is really easy on these forums to mis-read a post......or a person.

I wasn't exactly advising people not to dose for immature fluke - I wouldn't presume to advise anyone, but I would give my opinion. Any advice needs to be tailored to the farm & area.

However some things are universal facts. Flukes are regarded as immature from day 0 (when the animal eats the grass with the fluke cysts on it) to say day 80 or so when the fluke starts laying eggs, and is considered an adult. As it grows, it does more and more damage, as it tunnels through the liver No available fluke dose kills all immatures. Some doses kill some of them. The very best kill flukes over 14 days (but only a percentage of these) and a few doses kill more or less everything older than 50 days.

So when you say you dose for immatures, you mean you select one of the better doses. But assuming your cattle were on pasture infested with liver fluke (ie west of Kinnegad - joke) you let your cattle walk out of the crush after dosing with live immatures present in their liver, which your dose did not kill - no matter what dose you used. Furthermore, your cattle are picking up more immature flukes the second you let them out to graze, and the dose doesn't kill them after a day or two - none of the flukicides have a residual effect.

And yes, there is no doubt that if you are using a flukicide that kills immatures, you are killing more flukes, and you are probably be getting some better performance as a result. But you are removing a bigger percentage of the flukes - that's all, so it won't be a dramatic difference whether your dose kills 55% of the flukes in the animal or 68% (I made these percentages up).

The point I was trying to make was that immature fluke cause serious disease in sheep - I have seen sheep that were dosed every six weeks dying of acute liver fluke disease. That does not happen with cattle, possibly because they have a tougher liver with more fibrous tissue, and liver fluke find it harder to tunnel through it. Cattle also become resistant to liver fluke with age (as you say) partly because they react to fluke attacks by producing more fibrous (scar) tissue. Sheep immune systems just can't cope, and mature ewes are as susceptible as hoggets.

So while I do actually believe that there is relatively little to be gained from dosing cattle for immature fluke, I do it myself, because it does reduce the burdens. But it is nowhere near as important as with sheep, where if I use an adult-only flukicide, I will get deaths.

I think we also have to look at other measures, like drainage, fencing off wet areas, ditches and flooded areas, and also accept that there is land in the west which in a bad fluke year, is unsuitable for livestock, because the amount of dosing needed to keep them safe would be neither economic nor advisable. That is the type of land where I said it probably doesn't matter whether you dose or not - some places which have been heavily grazed by sheep are almost that bad, although I did mean it as a joke.

This whole debate started about rumen fluke, where the same weather & ground conditions favour its development.

LostCovey

It only takes a poddle of water for an animal to get fluke. Fluke is a major problem every where.Fluke is the number one problem in animal health followed by IBR then BVD