By Jeff Skrzypek

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Parasites are never a good sign, especially for farmers who have livestock.  Being able to detect the worm-like pathogens is often expensive and time-consuming.  OSU researchers now might have a fix for that problem.

Aside from external predators like cougars and coyotes that are threatening to sheep farmers like Roger Rucker, there's an internal threat that lurks in these animals.

Rucker says some parasites don't really ever harm his sheep, but when it comes to the barber pole worm, it can be deadly.  "They can tolerate you know a little bit of the parasite problem, but where you're taking the blood, that's the life," said Rucker.

What makes the barber pole worm so dangerous is how it places itself in an animal.  Experts say the worm attaches itself to the hosts stomach and feeds of the blood of the animal while releasing up to 10,000 eggs per day.

The parasite, also know as Haemonchus Contortus, is hard to detect, expensive to test for and often takes weeks to confirm in labs by experts.  But that diagnostic system is changing.

OSU researchers have developed a new system that's not as fast as the speed of light, but instead focuses on the color of light.  They use a solution that's particular to the barber pole worm and when it's placed under fluorescent light t glows showing a positive result.

These researchers say they hope their refined method for testing for the barber pole worm in animals can help farmers.  They expect the new method of testing to save the sheep and wool industry a significant amount of money.