- Gather two groups of 10 to 12 sheep into separate pens. Gathering 12 animals per pen can speed up the process of collecting 10 samples. Allow the sheep to stand for about 20 minutes. Identify the sheep in each pen with a colour marker spray (for example, pen 1 spray them all with a red marker and pen 2 spray them all with a blue marker).
- Collect 10 individual floor faeces samples of approximately 40gm each (a good handful) from each of the two pens. Either collect each individual sample into a separate pot or use gloves and seal the top of the glove with a knot. Keep the samples separate and label with the colour of the sheep. For example, put all the samples from one pen into a bag labelled with the corresponding colour. It is important that we receive 10 samples from each group.
- Dose the sheep with a product which contains triclabendazole such as Fasinex.Dose to the heaviest animal in the group, ensure the dosing gun is measuring the correct dose and use a new pack of Fasinex.
- Send the samples to Liverpool Veterinary Parasitology Diagnostics (LVPD), University of Liverpool, Liverpool Science Park IC2, 146 Brownlow Hill,Liverpool,L3 5RF.
- 21 days later gather the same 24 sheep and pen them according to their colour - red marked sheep into one pen and blue marked sheep into a second pen. Let them stand for 20 minutes and then collect ten floor faeces as before. Keep each individual sample separate and put the 10 samples from the red sheep into one bag and the 10 samples from the blue sheep into a second bag. It is important that we receive 10 samples from each group.
- Send the samples to Liverpool Veterinary Parasitology Diagnostics (LVPD), University of Liverpool, Liverpool Science Park IC2, 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool, L3 5RF.
Faecal egg count reduction test for sheep
This method can be used to obtain evidence of reduced triclabendazole efficacy in fluke affecting sheep. It has not been validated for use with other flukicidal products or in other host animals.