The liver fluke forecast
Farmers in the midlands, west and northern half of the country need to vigilant for liver fluke this coming winter.
This follows the release of the Liver Fluke Forecast November 2025 by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, a yearly forecast in collaboration with Met Éireann, UCD, Teagasc and Animal Health Ireland that advises farmers of the predicted risk of disease caused by liver fluke infection in livestock for the following winter.
This year’s forecast is based on meteorological data gathered between May and October 2025 by Met Éireann. The Ollerenshaw Summer Index 2025 predicts infection being most prevalent in the midlands, west and northern half of the country, with a lower disease prevalence in the south-east of the country. The low values of the summer index in the east are due to the dry conditions in June and September 2025.
Farmers are reminded to know whether liver fluke is present on their farm and to treat accordingly to avoid production losses. However, farm-to-farm variation can exist, and farmers should remain vigilant for any signs of illness or ill-thrift. In areas of high risk and on farms where liver fluke infection has been diagnosed or where there is a prior history, livestock owners should consult with their vet to devise an appropriate control programme.
The testing of faecal samples is also recommended to confirm the presence of liver fluke eggs as this can help determine both the need for and success of flukicide treatments. This is especially important given that resistance to flukicides is becoming increasingly widespread.
For more on the successful control of liver fluke, visit here.
Liver fluke in cattle carcasses
After showing an increase in 2024, Animal Health Ireland’s (AHI’s) Beef HealthCheck Programme – a partnership with Meat Industry Ireland and meat factories nationwide – has found that an average of 34% of herds have had at lease one animal with liver fluke damage to date this year – a return to previous levels witnessed prior to 2024.
Some of its key findings to date:
- Active infection in one or more animals was seen in 12% of herds, compared to 17% last year.
- Counties in the northwest of Ireland were more heavily affected, with 60-80% of herds in Sligo, Mayo, Leitrim, Roscommon and Donegal reported to have signs of liver fluke at slaughter.
- The prevalence within herds is typically low depending on the farm with 6% of animals presented to slaughter showing signs of liver fluke damage and 1.2% of animals showing live liver fluke parasites.
The Beef HealthCheck reports can be a useful tool to understand liver fluke challenge on-farm and are available to farmers on the ICBF website for those who have slaughtered animals at a participating factory since 2016.