CASEOUS LYMPHADENITIS IN SHEEP

Hokitika Guardian, 21 October 1930, Page 8

CASEOUS LYMPHADENITIS IN SHEEP

NECESSARY PRECA CTI'ONS AT SHEARING TIME.

(By the Live-Stock Division of oho Department of Agriculture.)

This disease, which rarely affects the general health of sheep and lambs, but is of great importance in connection with our meat export trade seeing that all affected carcases have to be treated as "rejects”, is one which is capable of being greatly reduced as regards the number of animals affected by it, and possibly stamped out altogether on farms where it exists, if all possible precautions .to prevent its spread are taken and efficiently carried out.

The Live-Stock Division of the Department has made a practice, when affected sheep or lambs are found by ■>- spectors at Freezing Works or abattoirs, of ascertaining the property from whence they came, and. directly advising the owners of the fact and advising them as, to the methods to be adopted for dealing with, the trouble. Leaflets have also been issued broadcast

A - great deal of valuable preventive work can be done at shearing and crutching times as there can be no doubt that infection of wounds ma le during shearing and crutching is ne of the main methods by which the d'sease is spread. The disease is characterised ..by Die enlargement of lymphatic glands (ker nek) in which abscess formation < ••- curs, resulting in the glands, being practically converted into abscesses containing a creamy greenish coloured material. These abscesses frequently burst on their own accord and 'he matter exudes on to the surrounding wool and clings to it. Then, in shear ing, the, shears pick up the infection from TTiis contaminated wool and each wound made afterwards can be automatically infected by the shears. A very probable additional method of infection is by dust or soil from sheepyards, getting oii to the newly made shear wounds, as the soil of yards is likely to carry infection on farms where this trouble exists, and it is quite possible that adjacent holding paddocks may also be infected. Hence, it is a wise and desirable precaution to saturate the soil of the yards with a strong’ antiseptic solut-ion—-say one part of non-poisonous sheep, dip, to twenty parts of water. Holding paddocks might be ploughed and resown, and tile shearing shed should be well washed down with a ? .•!- ution of non-poisonous sheep dip before shearing commences. Apart from this much valuable and necessary preventive wprk can be done at shearing time.

Research work has been going on at the Wallaceviue Laboratory where a small flock of affected sheep is being kept, and.the latest knowledge obtain eds indicates that the followin'* methods ought to be adopted: — (1) When sheep have been mustered for sheading, examine each sheep carefully for the presence of enlarged glands or ruptured abscesses, and ret aside all those in wnich enlarged rrlatuL are detected'. These sheen should be kept back and not shorn until all the rest of the flock Tins been shorn. In shearing them special care should be taken to apply disinfectant to all wounds inflicted. They should preferably be blade shorn, and the shears should be frequently dipped in an antiseptic fluid. One part of non-noison-ous dip to thirty of water, or, alternatively, kerosene alone would answer this purpose. (The method of detect)unaffected sheep before shearing *- Ascribed below).

(2) Carefully disinfect every wound made during the shearing of the apparently unaffected sheen, as well as those on affected ones. This, can h<» done by using either —fai A one-m----thirty solution in water of nnn-nnisnn. ous dip, or—(b) Equal Darts of tincture of iodine and water. Tar is in common use and is good from the disinfectant viewpoint. It, however, clings to the skin, and : later, to the growing wool, and is liable to thereby depre ciate the wool from the manufacturers’ standpoint. Shear blades should be cleaned and disinfected frequently. This is easily done with blade shears, but owing to the oily accumulation liable to he present upon, them, machine shears are not so easily disinfected..

In order to detect the presence oi glands enlarged through lymphadenitis infection, each sheep must be axanunod carefully at the points where the infected glands are almost invariably found. These points are at the front of each shoulder and in the gold of each flank. They can be easily found, though the shoulder glands are a little below the surface of the skin. Not only must enlarged glands be sought ( y careful handling, but the skin and wool at these parts must lie examined in order to detect the scars left by ruptured gland abscesses and collections of matter in the wool derived from these ruptured abscesses. } In view of the close approach of the shearing season it is sincerely hoped that all sheepowners will carefully a *t on the advice given above.