Careful inspection of newly purchased or other introduced sheep for lice is a critical part of a good lice biosecurity program. Regular monitoring of mobs for lice and in particular, careful inspection before shearing, is essential to enable early detection of new infestations so that sheep can be treated, if appropriate, or managed to minimise further spread.

Lice are extremely difficult to find when present in low numbers. This is one of the reasons why lice have been so hard to eradicate and why quarantining new purchases and other introduced sheep is so important.

The best way to monitor for lice is to look for rubbing sheep. However, because rubbing can be due to a number of other causes, it is critical to actually see the lice before deciding on a management strategy. Lice can cause sheep to rub when present in very low numbers, so you may have to inspect many fleece partings to actually see lice even if they are the cause of rubbing.  The LiceBoss rubbing module and farmnote on Causes of rubbing in sheep can help identify other causes of rubbing.

Further detail about inspecting sheep for lice is given in Monitoring sheep for lice.