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Subjects · Leaving Cert Agricultural Science

Leaving Cert Agricultural Science: Animal health & disease

How often Animal health & disease comes up on the Agricultural Science papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 5 of the last 5 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker

OL Asked on 5 of the last 5 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker

Animal health & disease, Higher Level(6 marks)

Quick ones on Animal health & disease.

(a)Which parasite uses a snail as a host and damages the liver of cattle and sheep?
  1. Lungworm
  2. Liver fluke
  3. Blackleg bacteria
(b)Hoose in calves is caused by...
  1. Magnesium deficiency
  2. Liver fluke
  3. Lungworms
(c)Grass tetany in cows is caused by a lack of...
  1. Magnesium
  2. Phosphorus
  3. Calcium
Show the answers

(a) Liver fluke

(b) Lungworms

(c) Magnesium

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Animal health & disease.

Higher Level

Asked on 5 of the last 5 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q4a, Q4b
2024Q6b, Q15
2023Q3, Q6, Q18
2022Q4, Q14d
2021Q9, Q11b, Q12, Q14

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Animal health & disease questions

Animal health & disease, 3 marks

What is biosecurity on a farm?

  1. Locking up the machinery to protect it against theft
  2. Routine antibiotic use in all the stock
  3. Measures to stop disease entering or spreading
Show the answer

Measures to stop disease entering or spreading

Biosecurity includes quarantining bought-in stock, disinfecting boots and vehicles, limiting visitors and keeping wild birds and vermin out, e.g. to protect poultry from avian flu.

Animal health & disease, 3 marks

Why are housed piglets given an iron injection soon after birth?

  1. To boost the piglets' growth hormone levels
  2. Sow's milk is low in iron, so it prevents anaemia
  3. To prevent pneumonia in the farrowing house
Show the answer

Sow's milk is low in iron, so it prevents anaemia

Piglets are born with small iron reserves and sow's milk has little iron. Indoors they cannot root in soil for it, so an injection prevents piglet anaemia.

Animal health & disease, 3 marks

Which treatment helps a cow with frothy bloat?

  1. An anti-foaming agent such as vegetable oil
  2. An injection of calcium under the skin
  3. A worm dose given by mouth
Show the answer

An anti-foaming agent such as vegetable oil

Frothy bloat traps gas in stable foam. Anti-foaming oils break the froth so gas can be belched. Severe cases need a vet.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 5 of the last 5 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q2, Q11a
2024Q4
2023Q5, Q8a, Q8b
2022Q11a
2021Q13

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Animal health & disease questions

Animal health & disease, 2 marks

A disease that can pass from animals to humans is called?

  1. A notifiable disease
  2. A deficiency disease
  3. A zoonosis
Show the answer

A zoonosis

Examples include ringworm, bovine TB, brucellosis and leptospirosis. Wear gloves, cover cuts and wash hands after handling animals.

Animal health & disease, 2 marks

By law, a notifiable disease must be?

  1. Kept private by the farmer and the vet
  2. Reported to the Department of Agriculture
  3. Treated only with antibiotics by the farmer
Show the answer

Reported to the Department of Agriculture

Diseases such as bovine TB, brucellosis, foot-and-mouth and avian influenza must be reported so the Department can control outbreaks.

Animal health & disease, 3 marks

Liver fluke is most common on farms with?

  1. Wet land where the mud snail lives
  2. Dry, sandy soils in the east
  3. Only indoor pig units
Show the answer

Wet land where the mud snail lives

The mud snail is the fluke's intermediate host. Draining or fencing off wet areas and dosing with a flukicide break the lifecycle.

Other Agricultural Science topics

All of Leaving Cert Agricultural Science