Roadmap for the development of control strategies for liver fluke

What are we trying to achieve and why? What is the problem we are trying to solve?

The role of the host immune system in controlling / containing infection

What are the scientific and technological challenges (knowledge gaps needing to be addressed)?

Characterising differences in the responses of sheep and cattle and between breeds of animals and individuals, in protective response after first infection. Applying these differences to interventions that help control fluke.

What approaches could/should be taken to address the research question?

Fundamental studies are needed to characterise immune responses to experimental and natural infections, how these
differ between animals, and what routes are open to encouraging more effective immune responses in livestock.
An important component will be understanding of fluke evasive strategies and how these might be curtailed.

What else needs to be done before we can solve this need?

Improved understanding of host-pathogen interaction and the development of protective immune responses.
Better immunological tools for ruminant species.

Existing knowledge including successes and failures

Some differences in susceptibility have been observed (e.g. cattle refractory to repeat infections) but mechanisms and whether this is helpful in fluke control are not well known. For example, liver fibrosis in cattle might limit future patent infections but at the cost of production loss.
Understanding of immunity to fluke has built up, e.g. within vaccine trials (see 15A) but new tools and approaches have the potential to integrate this knowledge and apply it more generally to control strategies.