Solantel Pour On is a flukicide only pour on product containing closantel from Norbrook the makers of Closamectin Pour On. This innovative new product kills late immature and adult fluke including any triclabendazole resistant fluke. When given 7 weeks after housing farmers can be sure that all fluke burdens will be cleared. This is suitable for all beef cattle and dairy youngstock. In second season grazed dairy heifers, Solantel Pour-On can be used in all non-pregnant heifers and those still in the first half of pregnancy.
The liver fluke Fasciola hepatica is known to causes significant losses to the cattle and sheep industries. With the effects of infection on growth rate and milk yield estimated to cost the UK cattle industry up to £40.4 million annually1, effective and sustainable parasite control within herds is essential. In a UK based abattoir study, data showed that “when compared with animals with no liver fluke burden, animals with 1 to 10 parasites take on average 31 days longer to reach slaughter weight, while animals with more than 10 F. hepatica flukes in their liver at slaughter take 77 days longer to finish.2”
Douglas Palmer BVMS MRCVS, Large Animal Veterinary Advisor at Norbrook® Laboratories, advises that “it is very important that farmers work with their vet or registered animal medicines advisor (RAMA) to establish a suitable anthelmintic plan that fits the requirements of your farm. This needs to take into account when liver fluke may start to be a problem, keeping in mind this will be different each year. Using the correct product for the most likely stages of liver fluke present is vital to controlling this disease as well as using lower risk pastures at high risk times of the year.”
There is often confusion over what products should be used when and having some understanding of the salient points of the liver fluke life cycle is important. Essentially the lifecycle on the pasture involves the mud snail Galba truncatula and requires water and temperatures above ten degrees Celsius to progress. However the final pasture stage which is infective to cattle and sheep (called the metacercariae) is particularly resistant. Therefore in practice the metacercariae in a typical year will appear on the pasture and infect grazed cattle in the late summer and autumn. Depending on the level of grazing and grass growth, these will typically no longer be available later in the following winter and spring. But of course there is no typical year!
Fortunately most cattle are housed in the autumn and this therefore represents a time where picking up more fluke is unlikely. Many fluke products are only active against certain stages of immature or mature liver fluke within the animal. The product which will kill the earliest stage of liver fluke is triclabendazole but resistance to this has been reported in the UK as early as 19983. There is an “argument that TCBZ should be used only in sheep with acute fasciolosis, to preserve its efficacy4” in this species as they are more susceptible to the effect of acute liver fluke.
Solantel Pour-On is an excellent choice to fit in with your winter housing regimen. With a 63 day meat withhold this conveniently fits in with those looking to finish cattle over the housed period. Being a flukicide only product this is as equally suitable for use on older breeding stock as well. For more information speak to one of our Registered Animal Health Advisors
References:
1. Bennett, R. and IJpelaar, J. (2005), Updated Estimates of the Costs Associated with Thirty Four Endemic Livestock Diseases in Great Britain: A Note. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 56: 135-144. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-9552.2005.tb00126.x
2. Mazeri S, Rydevik G, Handel I, Bronsvoort BMD, Sargison N. Estimation of the impact of Fasciola hepatica infection on time taken for UK beef cattle to reach slaughter weight. Sci Rep. 2017 Aug
3. Mitchell GB, Maris L, Bonniwell MA. Triclabendazole-resistant liver fluke in Scottish sheep. Vet Rec. 1998 Oct 3;143(14):399. PMID: 9802201.
4. Fairweather I, Brennan GP, Hanna REB, Robinson MW, Skuce PJ. Drug resistance in liver flukes. Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist. 2020;12:39-59. doi:10.1016/j.ijpddr.2019.11.003