Improving diagnostics of Liver and Rumen Fluke Livestock Parasites Utilising Exosome-like Vesicles

Controlling parasitic worms in livestock is of utmost importance in providing improved animal welfare and higher quality produce for consumers. Of particular note are the parasitic liver flukes and rumen flukes. Significant economic losses are attributed to both of these parasitic flukes in the sheep and cattle industries. Currently there are no farm based diagnostic tests for either liver fluke or rumen fluke that are suitable for routine application. This project exploits new findings of parasite biology to develop a rapid pen-side diagnostic test to diagnose and differentiate between liver and rumen fluke infections. Furthermore, this project will also address the diagnosis of liver fluke drug response status; namely liver fluke infections that are susceptible or resistant to the current drug of choice triclabendazole.