Authors
M Abbas1; K Kozel1; U Chaudhry1; O Daramola1; ER Morgan2; M Betson3; 1 University of Surrey, UK, UK; 2 Queen’s University Belfast, UK; 3 University of Surrey, UK Discussion
Achieving food security is a significant challenge due to the continuing expansion of the global population. Food-producing animals play a significant role in our diet. Food animals such as cattle and sheep can be infected by multiple parasites, which compromise animal health and welfare and cause significant production losses, thus negatively impacting food security. The liver fluke Fasciola is a particularly important parasite of ruminants worldwide. This parasite can also transmit to humans, so it has zoonotic importance. In the UK, the liver fluke species F. hepatica is endemic in ruminants, costing the cattle industry about £13 to £40 million annually; it reduces net profit by an average of 12% for dairy farms and 6% for beef farms. Climate change and porous boundaries directly influence parasite occurrence, making it difficult to control the disease. Understanding parasite genetic diversity, population genetics and multiplicity of infection (MOI), and the number of parasite genotypes in an infected host, can provide insights into infection rates, parasite self/cross mating behaviour, and potential for genetic exchange. Moreover, there is a need for user-friendly genetic markers with good genome coverage for in-depth analysis of F. hepatica population structure, and their impact on the emergence and spread of anthelmintic resistance, especially as markers for triclabendazole resistance, has not been identified. The current project aims to develop sensitive and rapid diagnostic tools, based on qPCR and LAMP technology, to screen F. hepatica from the faecal samples collected from different farms in the UK. Secondly, new whole-genome data will be generated from well-characterized F. hepatica isolates from sheep and cattle hosts from different geographical areas. Thirdly, based on the genomic data, high-quality genetic markers will be developed and validated. These markers and the mitochondrial markers will then be used to determine the population genetics structure, MOI, and the potential for genetic exchange among F. hepatica populations in sheep and cattle in different locations in the UK. Control of Fasciola involves strategic treatment of ruminants with flukicides, guided by “fluke forecasts” based on models using climate data. Therefore, finally, we will integrate genetic data into climate-based models of F. hepatica transmission to improve "fluke forecasting." 
