Prevalence of lice on dairy cattle in England and the bordering counties of Wales

A postal questionnaire was used to collect information on the prevalence of lice on cattle on a random sample of dairy farms in England and the border ing counties of Wales. Replies were received from 1040 (52.8 per cent) of t he 1970 farms which were mailed. Fifty per cent of farmers reported having ever seen or suspected lice in their herds and 29 per cent reported possibl e infestations in the winter of 1996/97. Visits were made to 24 farms in th e south west of England during February 1998. Twelve of the farmers said th at they had seen or suspected lice in their herd since October 1997, and th at lice were more frequently observed on the adult cattle. However, examina tion revealed lice on 18 of the 24 farms, and adult cattle were the least l ikely group to be infested.