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Flukeless: Irish scientists develop a diagnostic test kit for liver fluke
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The Tyndall National Institute in Ireland announced last week that they have developed a diagnostic toolkit called Flukeless, which is designed to be used in the fight against liver fluke. A flatworm called Fasciola Hepatica causes liver fluke, a parasitic disease, in grazing animals including cattle, sheep and goats. It is observed in animals throughout the world and is estimated to cost the international livestock and food industries in the region of €2.5 billion every year. The incidence of liver fluke is on the rise with, for example, a twelve-fold increase in many European Union countries over recent years. The disease causes decreases in meat and milk production and also impacts on fertility of animals. In severe cases, the disease can cause death of animals, particularly lambs, due to associated anaemia. It is also associated with emergence of other animal diseases such as salmonellosis and Tuberculosis.

The Flukeless toolkit, whose development was announced on Friday last, has been developed at the Tyndall National Institute with collaboration from other bodies including Teagasc, the Irish agriculture and food development authority, University College Dublin, Zoetis, The Enfer Group and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation. It will combine a range of technologies comprising state-of-the-art diagnostic devices, tracking systems and immunity and DNA testing in order to serve farmers, vets and policy analysts in the fight against liver fluke. Use of the kit should enable farmers to more rapidly detect the parasite in their livestock and take steps to immediately intervene in issues including reduced weights, calving rates and yield of milk. The development of the kit has been funded under the Irish Government’s Research Stimulus Fund (RSF) and is part of government strategy to support sustainable and competitive agricultural production practices and policies as well as build the knowledge economy in Ireland in general and the agriculture industry in particular.

Dr Alan O’Riordan, who is the Principal Investigator on the project at the Tyndall Institute said the Flukeless package is a: “pioneering, multidimensional package including on-farm fluke diagnostics, the results of which will be uploaded to geographical information system for disease mapping and also feed into breeding programmes. This approach has broad application and will save significant time, energy and money”. The project will be on-going for the next four years and the package should be available to farmers within five years.

Sources

http://www.science.ie/science-news/tynda...eless.html
http://www.teagasc.ie/
http://www.agritrading.ie/files/Farm_Foc..._Fluke.pdf
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