Farm parasitology Flashcards
(150 cards)
What is Dictyocaulus viviparus (Dictyocauliosis)? Morphology of adults? What does it cause? Which cattle are affected? When are outbreaks seen in cattle?
Lungworm Adult morphology: - 4-8cm long - Slender, white - Male has reduced bursa - Found in trachea and bronchi Parasitic bronchitis, 'husk' Affected cattle: - All cattle at pasture at risk - Especially first grazing season/previously unexposed cattle - Beef sucklers lower risk Disease usually in August-September Need very few worms to cause disease - 800-1000
How long does cattle lungworm immunity last?
Develops with gradual pasture larval challenge
Immunity to L3: 4 months
Immunity to adults: 2 years
May only have partial immunity - disease at subsequent grazing (reinfection syndrome)
So short lived immunity - needs continual boosting
Clinical signs of cattle lungworm?
Mild: intermittent cough, particularly when exercised
Moderate: frequent cough even at rest, laboured breathing, squeaks and crackles on auscultation
Severe: severe tachypnoea, dyspnoea, air hunger position, mouth breathing, deep harsh cough, salivation, anorexia
Lung pathology caused by lungworm in cattle?
Emphysema - no gas exchange can occur in these areas
Atelectasis?
Diagnostic methods for cattle lungworm? How many to sample? Who to sample?
Baermann test (L1 in faeces) - positive from 25d post infection Serum or milk ELISA for Abs - positive from 28d post infection, bulk milk only positive if 30% herd infected (false negatives) Only sample animals in herd for at least 4 weeks
Treatment and control for cattle lungworm?
Mild/moderate - dose and move, if unable to move dose with product with residual activity (e.g. MLs)
Severe - dose and observe closely (house), NSAIDs, hydrate, antibiotics?
Eprinomectin - only treatment with zero milk withdrawal
House most severely affected calves
Vaccination:
- = huskvac
- = 1000 live attenuated larvae
- calves need to be at least 8 weeks old
- booster 4 weeks apart
- turnout 2 weeks after 2nd dose
- mostly non patent infection
- immunity, no disease (mild cough might be heard)
- turnout on contaminated pasture to maintain exposure and immunity (requires natural boosting to maintain immunity)
Epidemiology of cattle lungworm?
Prolific egg layers
Time between appearance of L1 in faeces and L3 on pasture is 1 week, almost independent of weather
Development of gut worm larvae takes weeks and is more dependent on local temperature/rainfall
Survival on pasture is short, ‘clean’ again after 6 weeks
Gut worm larvae survive months
Most important source of infection are carriers
Gut worm larvae are already present on pasture at turnout
L3 overwinter on pasture
L1 shed by carrier animals
When is clinical disease from lungworm seen in adult cattle?
In a group if they have failed to acquire immunity through natural challenge in earlier years
- infection of non immune cows - introduction of carriers to naive herd
- reintroduction - infection of cows which were immune but were not challenged for 2 years
- reinfection syndrome - high level of infection of cows (with intact immunity to adult worms) when the protection against incoming larvae has waned (5-6 months housing)
Disease is occasionally seen where an individual adult is penned in a heavily contaminated calf paddock
(On farms where disease is endemic only calves in first grazing season are clinically affected as older animals have acquired immunity)
How can lungworm spread between farms?
Pilobolus fungus: L3 moves onto fruiting body of fungus in faecal pat and gets catapulted when fungus spore explodes
Purchase of carriers
Slurry
Deer
Which are the main worms which cause parasitic gastroenteritis in cows? Where found in the cow?
Ostertagia ostertagi - develops in gastric glands of abomasum
Cooperia oncophora - SI
Clincal signs of PGE in cows?
Calves - first grazing season
Loss of appetite (accounts for 60-70% of weight loss)
Scouring
Poor condition
Epidemiology of PGE in cows?
Larvae overwinter on pasture
Energy stores used up and most die in spring
Larvae picked up in spring
Start shedding eggs
Lots produced August
PGE seen Aug-October
Mild winter - more active so use up energy store so more die by spring
Cold winter - larvae don’t use energy, protected from desiccation by frost/snow, more lavage on pasture in spring
Dry summer followed by rain - helps dispersal, see lots of PGE in autumn
Who is affected by PGE in cows?
Dairy calves in first grazing season
Autumn born beef calves in second grazing season
Diagnostics for PGE in cows?
FEC
Plasma pepsinogen
Worm Abs
Performance monitoring
Fasciola hepatica: Life cycle? Features? Intermediate host? Definitive hosts? When are animals at risk?
Definitive hosts = ruminants, camelids, hares, deer, horses, humans
Intermediate host = Amphibious mud snails (mainly Galba truncatula)
Typical trematode:
- Indirect life cycle
- Dorso-ventrally flattened
- Hermaphrodite
- No body cavity
Autumn - risk of acute fluke
Winter-Spring - risk of chronic fluke
Spring-Summer - build up of snails and fluke numbers on pasture over summer
Diagnosis for liver fluke?
Clinical signs, farm history
FEC: low se, high sp, laborious, only detects patent infection (eggs large and yellow)
Ab detection ELISA: milk or bulk tank milk or serum, detects exposure (not necessarily current infection)
Copro-antigen ELISA: no better than FEC
PM/slaughter house feedback
Controlling liver fluke? Problems?
Drug prophylaxis - select according to stage of fluke in animal, clinical need (monitor bulk milk tank tests, FEC, abattoir returns), milk withdrawal
Disease forecasting
Grazing management:
- identify risky pastures
Elimination of snail habitat
Develop annual fluke plan - e.g. avoid flukey pasture in Autumn
Quarantine bought in - test and treat
Drugs that kill worms tend to not kill fluke
Fluke drugs don’t have residual activity
Most flukicides don’t kill all stages of fluke
Flukicides?
Triclabendazole - only one effective for immature fluke (works on all stages 2w+) so use in Autumn but resistance problems
Treat with adulticide at housing to prevent egg shedding:
Closantel (6w+)
Clorsulon (adults)
Nitroxynil (adults)
Albendazole (adults)
Oxyclozanide (adults)
Rumen fluke: Species name? Where found? What causes disease? Appearance of eggs? Clinical signs? Treatment?
Paramphistomes: Calicophoron daubneyi Adults well tolerated on rumen surface Disease invariably associated with large numbers of immatures in intestines Intermediate host = Galba truncatula Eggs similar to F hepatica but grey/green Clinical signs: - Anorexia - Non responsive diarrhoea - Fatal cases reported Treat under cascade with oxyclozanide
Clinical signs of Coccidia in cattle? slides weren’t up - find
Anorexia
Diarrhoea (bloody/watery)
Dehydration
Poor weight gain
Louse control in cattle?
Pour on MLs - Ivermectin, Moxidectin, Doramectin
Synthetic pyrethroids - Deltamethrin, Permethrin (for heavy infestations, give second treatment 2-3 weeks later to kill young lice from eggs)
Chewing and sucking lice of cattle?
Chewing - Bovicola bovis
Sucking - Linognathus vital, Haematopinus eurysternus, Solenoptes capillatus
Mite control in cattle?
MLs - Ivermectin, Moxidectin, Doramectin
What causes PGE in sheep?
Major pathogenic species:
- Teladorsagia circumcincta
- Trichostrongylus spp
- Cooperia spp
Others:
- Nematodirus battus
- Haemonchus cortortus