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Vetdle Archive

Archive Case #183: Bovine Liver Fluke Disease

Cattle veterinary case - Medium - September 2, 2026

Clinical Clues

  1. Cattle grazing wet low-lying pasture are losing weight and lagging behind despite adequate feed availability.
  2. The owner reports bottle jaw in several affected animals.
  3. The cattle are quiet and in poor body condition but not acutely febrile.
  4. Bloodwork supports chronic protein loss and anaemia.
  5. Faecal testing and herd risk factors are compatible with trematode infestation.
  6. Chronic fasciolosis in cattle commonly causes poor production, anaemia, and submandibular oedema.

Diagnosis

Bovine Liver Fluke Disease

This case is most consistent with Bovine Liver Fluke Disease because the cattle have chronic ill thrift, bottle jaw, and pasture risk factors consistent with fasciolosis. The most important clues are the wet grazing environment and chronic protein-loss pattern, which make johnes disease less likely.

Learning review

Review the case evidence

Use the paired clues to explain how the evidence in this cattle case supports the provided diagnosis, Bovine Liver Fluke Disease, then compare your reasoning with the case explanation.

Evidence checkpoints

Clues 1-2

  1. Clue 1: Cattle grazing wet low-lying pasture are losing weight and lagging behind despite adequate feed availability.
  2. Clue 2: The owner reports bottle jaw in several affected animals.

Clues 3-4

  1. Clue 3: The cattle are quiet and in poor body condition but not acutely febrile.
  2. Clue 4: Bloodwork supports chronic protein loss and anaemia.

Clues 5-6

  1. Clue 5: Faecal testing and herd risk factors are compatible with trematode infestation.
  2. Clue 6: Chronic fasciolosis in cattle commonly causes poor production, anaemia, and submandibular oedema.

Self-review prompts

  1. After clues 1-2, what evidence from this cattle case shaped your initial interpretation?
  2. When you compare clues 3-4 with clues 1-2, what changed in your reasoning about Bovine Liver Fluke Disease?
  3. How do clues 5-6 align with the case explanation for Bovine Liver Fluke Disease?

Educational Use

Vetdle archive cases are educational veterinary games for diagnostic reasoning practice. They do not provide veterinary advice, diagnosis, treatment, or professional medical guidance.