Liver fluke infection causes chronic suffering in millions of cattle and sheep globally, and integrated control combining management and treatment is the most effective welfare intervention.
Liver fluke is one of the most significant parasitic welfare problems in temperate livestock farming, causing chronic suffering at a scale that is often underestimated because subclinical infection lacks dramatic visible signs. Animals with chronic fluke infection experience ongoing immune activation, liver damage, pain, and reduced thrift that compounds the welfare impact of other production stressors. Climate change is expanding the geographic range and seasonal window for fluke transmission as wetter, milder conditions favour snail intermediate hosts. Integrated control — combining strategic treatment, pasture management, and monitoring — is more sustainable than reliance on treatment alone, particularly as triclabendazole resistance becomes more prevalent. Welfare-aware fluke management includes monitoring animal condition and production performance as indicators of subclinical fluke burden alongside faecal egg counting.