Detection Of Lice Research Articles

Accurate Wound and Lice Detection in Atlantic Salmon Fish Using a Convolutional Neural Network

The population living in the coastal region relies heavily on fish as a food source due to their vast availability and low cost. This need has given rise to fish farming. Fish farmers and the fishing industry face serious challenges such as lice in the aquaculture ecosystem, wounds due to injuries, early fish maturity, etc. causing millions of fish deaths in the fish aquaculture ecosystem. Several measures, such as cleaner fish and anti-parasite drugs, are utilized to reduce sea lice, but getting rid of them entirely is challenging. This study proposed an image-based machine-learning technique to detect wounds and the presence of lice in the live salmon fish farm ecosystem. A new equally distributed dataset contains fish affected by lice and wounds and healthy fish collected from the fish tanks installed at the Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway. A convolutional neural network is proposed for fish lice and wound detection consisting of 15 convolutional and 5 dense layers. The proposed methodology has a test accuracy of 96.7% compared with established VGG-19 and VGG-16 models, with accuracies of 91.2% and 92.8%, respectively. The model has a low false and true positive rate of 0.011 and 0.956, and 0.0307 and 0.965 for fish having lice and wounds, respectively.

A regional model of sheep lice to study the effect on lice prevalence and costs for Australian farms using a range of treatment efficacy in combination with other lice control strategies

Using a previously developed predictive model, three different management practices were examined in combination with post-shearing chemical treatments for lice, to determine which combinations could provide cost-effective reductions in lice prevalence over a 20-year period. The model included nine sheep production regions across Australia, all of which have different regional flock prevalence of lice and mean numbers of sheep/property. The lice prevalence model simulated the effects of four management options on Australian lice prevalence and on financial return (expressed as net present value) over a 20-year period. Management options modelled in this study were: treatment for eradication, inspection for lice detection, intervention level, and biosecurity of purchased sheep. The costs and benefits of these management options were calculated on the basis of published data or standard industry costs. Combinations of eradication achieved through treatment and biosecurity of purchased sheep provided the greatest modelled reductions in Australian flock lice prevalence at the lowest cost. With current management practices, lice prevalence was estimated as 16.3% of Australian properties infested and lice costs were estimated at 902 cents per sheep over 20 years. The model estimated that with appropriate management, lice prevalence could be reduced to less than 1.5% of properties infested and costs could be halved to 435 cents per sheep over 20 years. With further development, the modelling described herein offers potential guidance for Australian sheep producers in selecting the most effective and cost-efficient combination of management strategies to reduce lice infestation.

A regional model of sheep lice management practices to examine the impact of managing straying sheep combined with other management choices

A model of lice management systems was used to investigate the potential benefits of improved fencing against straying sheep, used in conjunction with other management options for lice control. The impact of combined strategies was simulated over a 20-year period. Management options included in the model were: lice eradication rate, lice detection, intervention level, improved fencing to reduce straying sheep, and biosecurity of purchased sheep. The modelling found it was cost-effective to improve fences for an initial average cost of $20 000/property if the number of properties from which strays could enter was reduced by ≥40%, but for average Australian properties this represents less than 20% of the boundary replaced. In order for fencing to be a cost-effective part of lice management, the fencing must target sections of boundary fence that will provide the greatest protection from contact with neighbouring flocks. The model showed that improved biosecurity against straying sheep combined well with improved eradication rates. However, biosecurity for purchased sheep may be the most cost-effective option.

Issues and advances in the integrated control of sheep lice

Ongoing pressure to minimise costs of production, growing markets for low residue and organic wool and meat, resistance to chemicals in louse populations, and the deregistration of diazinon for dipping and jetting have contributed to a move away from routine annual application of lousicides to more integrated approaches to controlling lice. Advances including improved methods for monitoring and detection of lice, an expanded range of louse control products and the availability of a web-accessible suite of decision support tools for wool growers (LiceBoss™) will aid this transition. Possibilities for the future include an on-farm detection test and non-chemical control methods. The design and extension of well-constructed resistance management programs to preserve the effectiveness of recently available new product groups should be a priority.

Website of the week: Headlice

Headlice may not always make headlines, but there is no doubting their importance—ask any parent, teacher, general practitioner, or practice nurse. For an essentially harmless condition there is the potentially toxic effect of the treatments and the possibility of local resistance (p 1084). You wouldn't think that there are many head lice pundits in the world—that is, until you search the net. For straightforward, no nonsense facts on cause, transmission, and current suggested treatments, you won't need to go much further than the sites of the Department of Health (www.doh.gov.uk/headlice) and Harvard School of Public Health (www.hsph.harvard.edu/headlice.html). For a balanced approach to all methods of eradication—chemical and combing—the best site I found was www.chc.org/bugbusting/ Plain, reassuring advice for frustrated parents whose children continually cycle from one attack to another is available from www.liceinfo.com, and www.headlice.org offers a good FAQ (frequently asked question) area and tells you what to say to the nursery when your child is turned away. “Children should not be sent home or isolated in any way,” it says authoritatively. Complementary or natural remedies are well represented on the net. www.headlicecure.com and www.naturalmom.com both offer “to cure head lice without pesticides.” Tea tree oil seems the most popular choice. For lice detection equipment look no further than www.head-lice.com/ The Model 580 magnifying eye specs lice detector, complete with mounted halogen headlight, is a snip at $150. For kids at prestigious schools in America, www.licenders.com offers a “premier service for the identification and treatment of head lice.” The company's technicians can inspect 200 kids an hour and use “equipment that is state of the art.” American combs—just bound to have more teeth.

Persistence of the sheep body louse, Bovicola ovis, after treatment

Lice were found in samples of baled wool from 198 of 464 flocks treated to eliminate an infestation in the period July 1988 to June 1990. In 287 flocks the insecticide was applied as a backline treatment and in 177 flocks a shower dip was used. Of these flocks, 41.5% and 44.6%, respectively, were found to be infested at the following shearing. After adjusting for the accuracy of the test, it was estimated that infestation in 2 consecutive 12-month periods occurred in 52.6% of flocks with a real incidence rate of 27.4%. Using these estimates, it was calculated that in 34.7% of infested flocks treatment did not kill all lice. There were no differences in the proportion of consecutive infestations between flocks treated with any of the 3 chemicals applied as backline treatments. Among flocks treated in a shower dip, 68.4% using coumaphos, 37.8% using diazinon and 41.5% using cyhalothrin had consecutive infestations (P < 0.05). The detection of lice in 63.2% of flocks that were treated with magnesium fluosilicate was, in part, attributed to the application of this chemical by one operator.