Hafod

Project aims: 

• The mud snail Galba truncatula is the key intermediate host for liver and rumen fluke.
• Specifically, they are seen in areas of wet habitats such as ponds, stream edges, ditches and areas of wet and muddy ground.
• The liver fluke parasite cercaria life stage leaves the snail to encyst on herbage that may be grazed by livestock and therefore these habitats are a key area of infection on any farm. 
• However, not all suitable snail habitats on a farm will be habited by snails and only a minority of snails will be infected by liver fluke.
• This project aims to tie in an evaluation of the usefulness of providing this information to the farmer through a series of repeated surveys of snails within the on-farm habitats.
• With the continued development of an eDNA assay for both the mud snail and the liver fluke parasite that could serve as the foundation of a longer term and more accessible test of habitat infection levels.