The responses of cattle infected with Fasciola hepatica to treatment with
nitroxynil or
closantel were monitored by faecal egg counts and by ELISA assay of anti-fluke
antibodies. A first trial with experimentally infected heifers showed an increase in anti-fluke antibody titre as early
as 2 weeks post-
infection. Eggs were first detected in the faeces 10 weeks after
infection. Egg output increased steadily over the next 8 weeks and then rapidly decreased. Treatment of a 20-week
infection with
nitroxynil was followed by a slow decrease in antibody titre 4 weeks later. This decrease continued over the next 40 weeks, but returned to pre-
infection levels in only 2 out of 4 animals. The faecal egg count fell to zero 2 weeks
after treatment and remained so for the following 30 weeks, although 1 animal produced a few eggs 32 and 34 weeks post-treatment. Within this period, neither diagnostic technique discriminated between this persistently infected animal and the others. In a second trial, 45 cattle from a naturally infected herd were treated with
nitroxynil or
closantel. The faecal egg counts of the treated cattle were zero within the following 2 months, whereas there were eggs in the faeces of the control (untreated) group. Nevertheless, the treated cattle showed a small, non-significant drop in anti-fluke antibody titre. These results demonstrate the need for new tools to monitor and evaluate accurately the efficacy of
anthelmintic treatment.