Do kangaroos play a role in the presence of liver fluke in livestock?

Liver fluke and drench resistance is a constant threat to livestock production. Free-roaming wild animals such as kangaroos also carry liver fluke.

This research aims to identify -

1. If kangaroos play a role in the presence of liver fluke in livestock.
2. If kangaroos are carrying drench resistant strains and dispersing drench resistant liver fluke in livestock.

Kangaroo populations have increased over the past 10 years and roos are often seen co-habiting livestock grazing areas. Knowledge on the prevalence of liver fluke in kangaroos and impact on dispersal in livestock would provide valuable feedback for farmers to guide future management of liver fluke.

Your insights, collected through a short survey, will greatly help this study and will contribute to a PhD being conducted by Jane Lamb.

In addition to this survey, this project aims to collect samples from kangaroos co-habiting livestock grazing areas to test for liver fluke and establish typical infection levels in kangaroos.

Survey

The survey is very short. Questions are based on the general management and awareness of liver fluke in livestock and if kangaroos are co-habiting your farm.

How long will it take?  5-10 minutes.

Who can help? Any farmer over 18 years of age who farms cattle, sheep, goats or alpacas within a 200 km radius of Armidale, regardless of whether they do or do not have liver fluke on their property.

How to participate?  Survey can be accessed by clicking on the web-link below -

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/UNEliverfluke

The survey can also be sent to you by email or posted in the mail with a returned pre-paid addressed envelope.

Contact Jane Lamb

Email: jbowles2@myune.edu.au 

Phone: (02) 6773 3964

OR

Simply reply to this newsletter email with your name and phone number and ParaBoss will arrange Jane to contact you.

Results

This is part of the research being conducted by Jane Lamb for her PhD. Relevant results from the survey and PhD will be published later in ParaBoss News.

This research project has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of UNE (Approval No.HE18-250, Valid to 23/10/2020).

Your participation in this survey would be greatly appreciated.