Dawbuts Newsletter JUNE 2026
- Andrew Sheehy
- Jun 24
- 7 min read
FOOTBALL!
AFL, AFLW, NRL, NRLW, World Champion Rugby 7s women’s team, Super Rugby, Matildas ‘friendlies’, State of Origin, Socceroos in the World Cup, Wallabies preparing for the 2026 campaign.
It’s all happening for the footy nuts this year, whatever code you favour. To celebrate, Dawbuts is giving away two national team jerseys- one for the Matildas and one for the Wallabies. Competition ends 30 JUNE 2026.
To enter follow this link and answer the 3 question quiz. https://forms.gle/zqvLBxgEUqTQXFtR7
2. Lab update
Exciting times in the lab as we bed down some fresh methods and technologies.
OvaCyte machine from Ireland. We have had this running hot in the lab for the past 2 months, validating:
rapid Haemonchus, (% barber’s pole worm in minutes)
sensitive (3 epg) worm egg counts, - ideal for resistance testing
quantitative fluke counts (both liver fluke and stomach fluke), - to work out flukicide efficacy
coccidia oocyst counts, as well as a heap of other features.
This machine brings simplicity, speed and finesse to the game of worm egg counts. For more information, see the Telenostic website or call the Dawbuts office on (02) 4655 6464.
3. Barber’s pole worms- not sleepy?
In times past, maybe twenty or more years ago, parasitologists observed sheep barber’s pole worms (Haemonchus contortus) having a nap over the winter. This is called ‘hypobiosis’, which is like the ‘hibernation’ that is displayed by bears and other mammals over the snowy northern hemisphere winter. However, it is also partly due to the preference of barber’s pole worms for warm (>10°C) wet (2 day’s rain) weather for their eggs to survive and develop into 3rd stage larvae, the infective stage.
The net result was that our most common and costly livestock worm had a break, and we didn’t see much winter infection in sheep in southern Australia. But times have changed. The start to winter in 2026 has seen a prolonged spell of warmer weather, with few frosts. This means that barber’s pole worms have been common in worm egg counts in the Kamiya laboratory, even across the past few weeks of June.
Worm and egg numbers, however, are lower than over summer due to the decreased number of larvae developing from eggs, but these larvae will survive a long time and many will still be around in springtime, when conditions will be ideal for them to multiply.
Make sure you keep an eye on both worm egg counts and worm identification as we head through winter.
4. National Fasciolosis Workshop 10 MAR 2026
Dawbuts staff were thrilled to be included in the National Fasciolosis Workshop, held in March at the University of Sydney. It was a very stimulating day, sharing in discussions around the latest research on liver flukes, Fasciola hepatica, from across the country.
A big thanks to the organisers and hosts for a very educational session and for the fellowship enjoyed at the renowned McMaster Laboratory after the conference.
The research day was followed up by an extension day for farmers the following week (19 MAR 2026) at Gunning, NSW.
5. Australian Cattle Vets Conference, Brisbane QLD
Highlights included a run-down on some of the new technologies available to cattle vets for monitoring, diagnosing and managing cattle.
Dr. Enoch Bergman of Swans Veterinary Services, Esperance, WA was awarded the prize of ‘Jakob Malmo Bovine Practitioner of the Year’, which was thoroughly deserved. Enoch is not only an energetic and dedicated veterinary clinician, servicing a wide swathe of southwestern Australia, he is also a pioneer in diagnosing pestivirus in cattle. Bravo, Enoch!
6. Avian Influenza H5N1 arrives in Australia
Enoch’s colleagues at Swans Veterinary Services, Dr. Toni Howlett and Dr. Alex Hockton were both instrumental in identifying sick sea-birds, a skua and a petrel, that were carrying the highly-virulent H5N1 strain of Avian Influenza that has been spreading around the world for the past few years.
This virus has the capability to spread from wild birds to poultry, mammals and humans. Everyone is urged to stay vigilant, note the location of any birds and mammals with unusual signs and contact the Emergency Animal Diseases (EAD) hotline on 1 800 675 888 (open 24 hours a day) if you see anything.
See the summary poster from the Australian Veterinary Association below.
7. Technology Day for Tablelands Farming Systems (TFS) 20 MAR 2026
A large group of farmers, scientists and advisors took to Twynam Ag’s ‘Johnniefields’ property at Brayton, NSW, to view all the latest technology on offer.
A big thank you to Johnny Kahlbetzer, manager of Twynam Ag and all the team who welcomed us and demonstrated the technology on offer. This was another great workshop for which TFS has become famous.
8. The ‘jelly-bean’parasites: stomach flukes- (paramphistomes)
After floods, some parasites take advantage of the wet conditions to spread on pastures and infest livestock. A perfect example is stomach flukes, also known as ‘paramphistomes’. These flukes are expanding their distribution across other parts of the world, notably Europe and India and are getting renewed attention overseas due to their impact on animal health and productivity.
In Australia, historical research has outlined their biology and treatment options, but recent climatic conditions and feral animals may be contributing to their spread.
What are they?
Stomach flukes are trematode parasites that live in the rumen or reticulum (first and second stomachs) of grazing ruminants. They can infect sheep, goats and cattle but have also been found in feral deer. The adult flukes are small (about 5-12mm long), pale pink to orange-coloured and resemble jelly-beans attached to the wall of the first and second stomachs (rumen and reticulum, or tripe and honeycomb) and are easily identified at post-mortem examination.
These parasites and their host snails love fresh water and are found commonly across the wetter areas of eastern Australia and rarely in tropical Western Australia.
In Australia, three different species of stomach flukes have been identified (see below).
Table 1: Stomach flukes found in Australia and their intermediate hosts
Name | Intermediate host | Size |
Calicophoron calicophorum | Gyraulus scottianus | 2.2 to 3.1mm |
Paramphistomum ichikawai | Helicorbis australiensis | 4.9 to 5.5mm |
Orthocoelium streptocoelium | Gyraulus gilberti | 4.8 to 5.5mm |
All species share a similar life cycle (see below), appearance and cause similar impact on infected animals.
Distribution of freshwater snail hosts of stomach flukes in Australia (courtesy of 'Australian Freshwater Molluscs')
Life cycle
Adult flukes are hermaphroditic (possess both male and female reproductive organs) and lay fertilised eggs, that pass through the gastrointestinal tract of the ruminant host and end up in the dung pat. The eggs hatch in 8 to 10 days. The larva (known as the miracidium) crawls out of the faeces and penetrates the skin around the mantle cavity of the snail. The infective stages (cercariae) of the stomach flukes crawl out of the snails about 6-7 weeks later and form cysts (metacercariae) on grass around ponds and dams, where they are eaten by grazing livestock.
Impact
Stomach flukes mainly affect young cattle 6-18m of age, as well as young sheep and goats. However, animals of all ages can be badly affected if they have had no previous exposure.
After flooding, high concentrations of snail hosts build up and grasses on the edge of the ponds becomes massively contaminated with infective cysts as the water recedes.
Once eaten by livestock, the immature stomach flukes (1 to 2mm long) travel to the small intestine where they burrow into the intestinal lining and cause intense irritation. This results in bleeding, irritation and signs of diarrhoea, wasting and ill-thrift.
Infected animals may develop bottle jaw and emaciation. Young cattle and previously unexposed animals can die due to complications of this intestinal damage.
Once animals become immune, they tolerate infestation with adult stomach flukes and do not show clinical disease. Recent research however suggests that animals with chronic infestations may suffer weight loss of reduced productivity.
Diagnosis
Eggs of stomach fluke can be seen under the microscope after a ‘sedimentation test’.
The OvaCyte Analyser can also be used to identify and count stomach fluke eggs.
The stomach fluke eggss are similar in size to liver fluke eggs (about 140 microns), but can be distinguished by their colourless appearance, compared to the yellow colour of liver fluke eggs. This is a good way of screening mobs of livestock, but is of limited use clinically as most disease is caused by migrating immature fluke before they start to lay eggs.
If you suspect disease is being caused by stomach fluke, your vet will be able to conduct a post mortem examination and search for immature stomach fluke in the small intestines.
Treatments and control
There are no registered treatments for stomach fluke in Australia. However, research in Australia and overseas has shown oxyclozanide (given twice over 3 days) in the product Nilzan (MSD Australia) to be effective in controlling stomach fluke. As this is an off-label use of the product, talk to your veterinarian about diagnosis and treatment.
Control is best done by limiting exposure of young stock to environments where stomach flukes are known to occur. Clinical signs are expected to be proportionate to infective dose. The presence of the planorbid snails will give you a guide to where the fluke metacercariae are likely to be. They are mainly found around creeks and other water sources, so are less likely to be seen in hilly or dry paddocks.
However, controlling access to young stock is very challenging following floods, when infective stages of the stomach flukes are dispersed widely across paddocks. One strategy is to only graze highly-contaminated paddocks in spring or early summer and avoid them for young stock in autumn and early winter when contamination of pasture with infective cysts is expected to be highest. Drenching stock with an effective stomach fluke treatment before grazing on high risk paddocks will also limit the number of paramphistomes developing through to the infective stage.
More information
Australasian animal parasites- inside and out- textbook, published by Australian Society for Parasitology
MG Smeal, (1995) ‘Parasites of Cattle’ The University of Sydney Postgraduate Foundation in Veterinary Science
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