Cattlemen hoping to study liver flook infestation in local cattle

By Ken Johnston
Editor

RRCA Research Committee member Amos Brielmann told area cattlemen that there is an almost 100% infestation rate of liver fluke among Rainy River District cattle.
Last fall he received a call from a meat inspector in Southern Ontario asking him about his liver fluke problem on the farm. Brielmann was surprised to hear that it was severe as it was. “He said he had never seen a problem like that before.”
Brielmann explained to the cattlemen that it has more impact than just on the liver. “It can affect the animal’s entire performance.
He contacted the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association to see if they could assist in doing a research project on the impact liver flukes have on cattle. However, he discovered that most of the research had been done in the 1950s and that his request is “not really a sexy project.”
Brielmann said that problem could have some economic impact on the area’s cattle industry but in order to determine if that is the case the cattle need to be followed from here to slaughter. He asked that producers sign a waiver so that results could be sent back to his committee and that they can look at the impact of this parasite.
He is hopeful that OCA will help them get a student from the Univ. of Guelph to study the cattle from here when they go to slaughter in Southern Ontario.