Abstract

In Switzerland, bovine fasciolosis is an economically important but often overlooked disease of dairy cows. The intermediate host of Fasciola hepatica in Switzerland is Galba truncatula, an amphibious snail living in humid habitats which are infected by miracidia from recently hatched Fasciola eggs. The definitive hosts include cattle, sheep, goats, horses, and free-living ruminants. Infection of these hosts occur from metacercariae, usually encysted on vegetation. Infection risk depends on the location of the habitat on the farm. There is a lower risk for the intermediate host to become infected on pastures for young stock and dry cows than on pastures for dairy cows. This in turn results in a lower infection risk for young stock and dry cows than for dairy cows. When controlling the disease, epidemiologic factors such as treatment and pasture management strategies should be taken into account. If individual control measures are followed, infection pressure and prevalence in a herd can be significantly reduced. To support veterinarians and farmers in the control of fasciolosis, an interactive map showing potential risk areas for fasciolosis was created on the basis of geographical, meteorological, and biological data of the intermediate host and the free-living parasite stages.