Parasites can be found in every environment on earth and infect
a wide range of hosts – birds, fish, plants, insects, wild animals,
domesticated animals and humans. When parasites
are discussed they often trigger an “ewww” reaction. However, they have much more serious economic,
food security and animal health and welfare impacts when they infect grazing
livestock. Grazing livestock contribute
greatly to food security and this is not going to change any time soon. Not only is the global population (and therefore
food requirement) growing, there is an increasing demand for animal-based food
products in developing regions and there is an essential role of animal
products in marginal environments where crop production is infeasible. Parasite control is therefore vital, but is
not easy to achieve.
Many parasites have complex lifecycles which depend upon
specific climatic conditions. For instance,
temperature and moisture determine development rates and survival. Farmers could once use this to their
advantage as the predictable, seasonal weather patterns led to predictable,
seasonal patterns of parasites. Reliable
livestock husbandry practices therefore developed for parasite management. However, in recent years there have been
changes in climate and less predictable weather patterns. Traditional management practices are often no
longer effective as parasites are being found in unexpected regions and at
unexpected times of year. What’s more,
whilst other organisms are being put under threat by climate change, parasites
are successfully evolving and adapting to these changes in environment due to
their short reproductive cycles.
Predicting the risk of infection to parasites involves multiple
areas of expertise. An in-depth
knowledge of parasite characteristics is essential, and needs to be updated as
they evolve. Accurate forecasts for
climate are also needed to help predict which regions may have an environment
suitable for the parasite and changes to its seasonality. An accurate forecast for weather (daily
climatic conditions) is essential for certain parasites. Combining historical data with forecasts, knowledge
of the parasite’s requirements for development and farm characteristics (such
as altitude and orientation) within complex models gives precise information on
infection risk and helps farmers to be one step ahead of the parasites. Technology is also aiding the rapid diagnosis
of specific parasite infections to guide effective management practices.
Despite these advancements in parasite control, uptake of the
technologies by farmers is often slow. The science behind parasites and the
models developed are complicated and daunting. Livestock farming is demanding, both
economically and in terms of labour.
Therefore farmers need these complex technologies to be transformed into
tools that are still effective, yet simple and easy to integrate into their
current practices. They need to feel
confident in using the tools and understand the benefits that come with them –
not the science. These benefits include
more efficient animals, both economically and environmentally, and improved
animal health and welfare.
There is still much to learn about parasites. The rapid changes
to the environment, the livestock industry and the parasites themselves means
that this is an area of work that will be ongoing for the foreseeable
future. There is a huge need for
collaboration between disciplines to not only develop the tools, but also to
communicate their need and promote their use on farms. This barrier to technology uptake could be a
bigger hurdle for scientists than technology development itself.
This blog is written by Cabot Institute member Olivia Godber, a PhD student in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol.