Rumen Fluke ( Calicophoron Daubneyi) on Welsh Farms: Prevalence, Risk

Rumen Fluke ( Calicophoron Daubneyi) on Welsh Farms: Prevalence, Risk

237 Rumen fluke (Calicophoron daubneyi) on Welsh farms: prevalence, risk factors and observations on co-infection with Fasciola hepatica RHYS ALED JONES1, PETER M. BROPHY1,E.SIANMITCHELL2 and HEFIN WYN WILLIAMS1* 1 Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Penglais, Abersystwyth, Ceredigion, UK 2 Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Carmarthen Veterinary Investigation Centre, Job’s Well Rd, Johnstown, Carmarthen SA31 3EZ, UK (Received 10 June 2016; revised 2 September 2016; accepted 2 September 2016; first published online 1 November 2016) SUMMARY Reports of Calicophoron daubneyi infecting livestock in Europe have increased substantially over the past decade; however, there has not been an estimate of its farm level prevalence and associated risk factors in the UK. Here, the prevalence of C. daubneyi across 100 participating Welsh farms was recorded, with climate, environmental and management factors attained for each farm and used to create logistic regression models explaining its prevalence. Sixty-one per cent of farms studied were positive for C. daubneyi, with herd-level prevalence for cattle (59%) significantly higher compared with flock-level prevalence for sheep (42%, P = 0·029). Co-infection between C. daubneyi and Fasciola hepatica was observed on 46% of farms; however, a significant negative correlation was recorded in the intensity of infection between each parasite within cattle herds (rho = −0·358, P = 0·007). Final models showed sunshine hours, herd size, treatment re- gularity against F. hepatica, the presence of streams and bog habitats, and Ollerenshaw index values as significant positive predictors for C. daubneyi (P < 0·05). The results raise intriguing questions regarding C. daubneyi epidemiology, potential competition with F. hepatica and the role of climate change in C. daubneyi establishment and its future within the UK. Key words: Calicophoron daubneyi, Fasciola hepatica, co-infection, cattle, sheep, logistic regression model, null modelling, UK. INTRODUCTION (Mage et al. 2002), 18·8% in Spain (Gonzalez- Warleta et al. 2013), 28% in Belgium (Malrait et al. Rumen fluke (Paramphistomatidae spp.) are trema- 2015) and 52% in Ireland (Toolan et al. 2015). tode parasites infecting ruminants worldwide. Paramphistomosis (rumen fluke disease) has been Traditionally rumen flukes were regarded as para- reported in both cattle (Millar et al. 2012) and sites mainly confined to tropical and sub-tropical sheep (Mason et al. 2012) in the UK, however, areas. However, within European livestock, the UK passive veterinary surveillance has been detect- presence in recent decades of high levels of rumen ing rumen fluke in larger proportions of cattle sub- fluke, in particularly the species Calicophoron daub- missions compared with sheep submissions neyi, is of potential concern. Calicophoron daubneyi (VIDA, 2016a), while in Ireland prevalence levels was first recorded infecting cattle in Kenya in the have been shown to be lower in sheep compared 1950s (Dinnik, 1962), with confirmation of its occur- with cattle (Toolan et al. 2015). In all cases of para- rence in Europe from the 1970s (Sey, 1980) and the mphistomosis, a heavy burden of juvenile fluke in UK in 2012 (Gordon et al. 2012). In recent years, the intestine has been attributed as the cause of the the UK has experienced an apparent sudden increase disease, with adult C. daubneyi believed to be well in the prevalence of rumen fluke, with the propor- tolerated (Zintl et al. 2014). Nevertheless, adult tion of rumen fluke detected in ruminant submis- C. daubneyi are known to induce inflammatory reac- sions by passive veterinary surveillance increasing tions in the rumen and reticulum (Fuertes et al. on average by 57% annually between 2010 and 2015), and in some instances may cause symptoms 2015 (VIDA, 2016a). High prevalence has been including bloat, loss of condition and the softening observed across Western Europe, with abattoir of feces in infected cattle (Alzieu and Dorchies, studies recording cattle prevalence levels of 29% in 2007). The potential threat of these symptoms to the UK (Sargison et al. 2016), 44·7% in France the UK livestock industry is heightened due to limited anthelmintic options for treatment, with * Corresponding author: Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth oxyclozanide the only anthelmintic regarded as an University, Penglais, Abersystwyth, Ceredigion, UK. effective paramphistomicide (Malrait et al. 2015). E-mail: [email protected] All published molecular level studies highlight Parasitology (2017), 144, 237–247. © Cambridge University Press 2016. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribu- tion, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Downloaded fromdoi:10.1017/S0031182016001797 https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.14, on 26 Sep 2021 at 10:13:27, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182016001797 Rhys Aled Jones and others 238 C. daubneyi as the dominant and potentially the only model identified decreasing rainfall and temperature, Paramphistomatidae species present in UK livestock and increasing cattle density and slope as predictors of (Gordon et al. 2013; Huson et al. 2015), while earlier C. daubneyi prevalence in cattle (Gonzalez-Warleta reports of Paramphistomum cervi in British livestock et al. 2013), while an Italian Apennines model iden- were only based on morphological identification tified the presence of streams, springs or brooks, (Pillers, 1922; Craig and Davies, 1937). Recent mo- heathland and moorland as positive predictors of C. lecular analyses have also identified Paramphistomum daubneyi (Cringoli et al. 2004). In these countries, leydeni infecting reindeer in south west England the climate, environment and agricultural systems (VIDA, 2016b) and fallow deer in Ireland are very different to the UK, and risk factors asso- (O’Toole et al. 2014), leading to the possibility of al- ciated with C. daubneyi prevalence is therefore likely ternative Paramphistomatidae spp. infecting UK to vary within each country. There are also un- livestock. answered questions regarding the potential inter- As with other trematode species, rumen fluke action between C. daubneyi and F. hepatica at requires an intermediate snail host to complete its intermediate host level in the UK (Jones et al. lifecycle, a process which sees the parasite exploit 2015), which could influence each parasite’sdistribu- this host to develop and multiply rapidly. The tion in the presence of the other. This consequence prominent host of C. daubneyi is Galba truncatula could be positive, due to a synergistic effect in infect- (Dinnik, 1962; Degueurce et al. 1999; Martinez- ing alternative snail species (Abrous et al. 1998), or Ibeas et al. 2013), a snail species, which thrives in negative, due to within-snail predation and competi- the UKs consistently wet and mild climate. Galba tion for nutrients (Rondelaud et al. 2007). truncatula is also the prominent intermediate host In this case study, the prevalence of C. daubneyi of the highly pathogenic liver fluke (Fasciola hepat- on participating Welsh farms was recorded along ica), a parasite which has been endemic in the UK with climatic, environmental and farm management for centuries (Dalton, 1998). As G. truncatula has re- factors for each farm. The aim was to create models cently been shown to host C. daubneyi in the UK explaining the presence of C. daubneyi on Welsh (Jones et al. 2015), the potential epidemiological farms and to identify associated risk factors. range of this parasite is also likely to be widespread. Fasciola hepatica prevalence was also recorded with Numerous predictive models of F. hepatica based the aim of comparing the prevalence, infection in- on key climatic drivers for G. truncatula activity, tensity and risk factors of both parasites. including rainfall and temperature have been created over the past 60 years. The most prominent model, the Ollerenshaw index (Ollerenshaw and MATERIALS AND METHODS Rowlands, 1959), is widely used commercially as a Questionnaire regional fasciolosis risk guide for farmers (NADIS, 2016). In recent years, further climatic F. hepatica During 2015 farmers were invited to participate in models have been created with the inclusion of the study through Young Farmers Clubs Wales, on either or both environmental factors (McCann social media and at various agricultural events. et al. 2010) and farm management factors (Howell From September 2015 participants were instructed et al. 2015) in an attempt to predict fasciolosis occur- to fill an online questionnaire (Schmitz, 2015) con- rence at a finer scale. As well as increasing the accur- taining 36 questions regarding the number and acy of models, any farm management practices type of livestock on their farm, the presence of identified as risk factors for F. hepatica may inform liver fluke and rumen fluke on their farm, their veterinarians and farmers of best practices to farms environmental features and management negate fasciolosis risk. However, despite their factors. Twenty-nine questions were closed, and similar reliance on G. truncatula, it remains to be seven were open ended. Open ended questions resolved whether these models can accurately included months when cattle

View Full Text

Details

  • File Type
    pdf
  • Upload Time
    -
  • Content Languages
    English
  • Upload User
    Anonymous/Not logged-in
  • File Pages
    11 Page
  • File Size
    -

Download

Channel Download Status
Express Download Enable

Copyright

We respect the copyrights and intellectual property rights of all users. All uploaded documents are either original works of the uploader or authorized works of the rightful owners.

  • Not to be reproduced or distributed without explicit permission.
  • Not used for commercial purposes outside of approved use cases.
  • Not used to infringe on the rights of the original creators.
  • If you believe any content infringes your copyright, please contact us immediately.

Support

For help with questions, suggestions, or problems, please contact us