Fasciola hepatica causes significant morbidity and mortality in sheep, and integrated control combining strategic treatment and pasture management is most effective.
Acute fluke disease kills sheep rapidly through liver destruction and internal hemorrhage. Chronic fluke disease causes months of suffering - weakness, poor nutrition, and progressive organ damage. The disease burden from uncontrolled liver fluke is substantial and preventable. Strategic treatment timing (early winter for acute prevention, early spring for chronic control), combined with pasture management to reduce snail habitat, provides effective control. Slaughter monitoring creates feedback on farm fluke burden that enables program evaluation.