Knowsley Safari (KS), Prescot, United Kingdom houses a variety of captive exotic ungulates.
As part of their animal welfare plan, a prospective coprological survey was undertaken
for liver fluke. In June 2021, 330 fecal samples, representative of 18 exotic ungulate
species, were processed by sedimentation and filtration, with examination by coproscopy.
Finding fascioliasis in all five vicuña alone, with fecal egg counts ranging from
one to eight eggs per gram, anthelminthic treatment was attempted twice, with three
coprological reviews. While the first anthelminthic treatment (oxyclozanide) was equivocal,
the second anthelminthic treatment (triclabendazole) was proven effective upon two
later follow-ups. An initial malacological survey of 16 freshwater sites in KS, first
found Galba truncatula at two sites in June 2021, then upon more extensive searching
subsequently within the vicuña's enclosure. It appears that F. hepatica was locally
acquired, being the first report of fascioliasis within captive vicuñas in the United
Kingdom. To develop a better fluke-management plan, regular coprological and malacological
surveillance is justified, perhaps with molecular xenomonitoring of snails, alongside
prompt administration of appropriate flukicide as required.
