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Global agriculture will be required to intensify production from a shrinking natural resource base. Helminth infections of ruminants are a major constraint on efficient livestock production. The current challenge is to develop diagnostic methods that detect the production impact of helminth infections on farms in order to target control measures and contribute to the global challenge of preserving food security. We review here our understanding of the effects of helminth infections and control practices on productivity and the diagnostic tools that can inform on this. By combining advances in helminth laboratory diagnostics and animal health economics, sustainable management of helminth infections can be integrated into the whole-farm economic context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Helminth infections are considered to be an important constraint on livestock productivity worldwide. The economic impact of these infections or their control strategies has traditionally been assessed by their effect on animal performance indicators or traditional economic calculation methods (e.g. budgeting and cost-benefit analysis). Because the impact of helminth infections has become more subtle and is farm-specific, one needs more refined economic evaluations of actions meant to increase or maintain the health of livestock on individual farms. This paper proposes an interdisciplinary framework that combines the developments in the veterinary control of helminth infections with economic performance measurements to identify farm-specific and profitable anthelmintic management decisions. Our framework positions individual farms’ performance against performance benchmarks and is based on the farms’ efficiency in transforming input(s) into output(s). We show how this positioning makes it possible to establish a linkage between input and output transformation, helminth infection levels and effects of control strategies. Furthermore, the framework allows for the identification of improvement paths that are not necessarily related to the helminth infection, but which may lead to other management improvements. We discuss the epidemiological information required and which complementary methods (e.g. efficiency analysis and budgeting techniques) can be used to make the framework operational. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Subclinical infections with gastrointestinal nematodes and liver fluke are important causes of production losses in grazing cattle. Although there is an extensive compilation of literature describing the effect of these infections on animal performance, only a few attempts have been made to convert these production losses to an economic cost. Here, we propose a novel tool (ParaCalc®), available as a web-application, to provide herd-specific estimates of the costs of these infections on dairy farms. ParaCalc® is a deterministic spread-sheet model where results from diagnostic methods to monitor the helminth infection status on a herd and anthelmintic usage are used as input parameters. Default values are provided to describe the effects of the infections on production and the cost of these production losses, but the latter can be adapted to improve the herd-specificity of the cost estimate. After development, ParaCalc® was applied on input parameters that were available for 93 Belgian dairy herds. In addition, the tool was provided to 6 veterinarians and their user experiences were evaluated. The estimated median [25th–75th percentile] cost per year per cow was €46 [29–58] and €6 [0–19] for gastrointestinal nematode and liver fluke infection, respectively. For both infections, the major components in the total costs were those associated with milk production losses in the adult cows. The veterinarians evaluated ParaCalc® as a useful tool to raise the farmers’ awareness on the costs of worm infections, providing added value for their services. However, the score given for user-friendliness was diverse among users. Although the model behind ParaCalc® is a strong simplification of the real herd processes inducing economic losses, the tool may be used in the future to support economic decisions on helminth control. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Livestock farming is central to global food security and to the sustainability of rural communities throughout Europe. Animal health management has a major impact on farming efficiency. Although animal health research has provided effective prevention strategies for the major endemic diseases of livestock, these strategies typically provide solutions for single infectious diseases and they are often not adequately implemented due to farm-specific constraints. We propose a concept termed “ECONOHEALTH” which aims at including the economic and social context in our understanding of the factors that drive animal health. The concept is elaborated on using the example of the major helminthic diseases of cattle in temperate climate regions (gastrointestinal nematodes, liver fluke and lungworm). By considering major diseases simultaneously and placing disease-complexes in an economic and a social context, we believe that insights will be generated upon which more integrated, situation-adapted and thus more effective prevention strategies can be devised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]