ANIMAL HUSBANDRY.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 269, 3 January 1929, Page 1

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY.

By the Department of Agriculture. The condition known as caseous lymph-adenitis, found in sheep, is char- ( acterised by the formation of abscesses in certain of the lymphatic glands (commonly known as il kernels") in the body. The glands become enlarged when the abscesses are forming, and wTieii cut into in the earlier stages a quantity of greenish coloured pus (“matter") is found present. As the abscesses get older this pus becomes converted into a cheesy-looking material.

Lymph-adenitis is present in New Zeaiand to a limited extent, but it shows indications of spreading, hence it is specially necessary for sheep owners to ti-.ce all known precautions to prevent: it. In Australia, Argentine, and Uruguay it is evidently very widely distributed, and recently the British authorities imposed some restrictions upon imported mutton from these countries on account of this trouble.

The abscesses may be found in lambs and hoggets, though aged ewes are most commonly affected. In lambs becoming infected a condition of pleurisy is sometimes set up. Lymph-adenitis occurs in all breeds of sheep, and it is a matter of economic importance that sheep owners take precautions to prevent, as far as possible, the spread of infection. There is very little evidence to show that the disease may be caused through ingestion of food or water contaminated with the organism which is the cause of the disease. As the abscesses are more frequently found in the * 1 kernels" situated in the upper regions of the limbs, this fact would suggest that the most common mode of entry of the organism is through accidental inoculation of wounds. This view is supported by work carried out at the Wallaceville Laboratory, where more or less typical lesions have been set up by the experimental inoculation of skin wounds hence it is necessary that careful precautions be taken to prevent infection of wounds accidentally made during shearing and crutching. It is customary where blades are used to frequently dip the blades in a reliable antiseptic, and always be done. Jeyes' fluid or lysol in strong solution or kerosene 'nr • recommended for the purpose. It is most important that all wounds should be at once d ressed with a similar solution or else have a little tar applied to them. If this precaution were carefully and officicnty observed in every case, it would be of the greatest value in assisting towards preventing the setting up of lymph adenitis in the sliecp which have sustained the wounds, and also in helping to prevent the spread of the disease generally. It has not been absolutely proved that infection is present in the surface soil of yards and of their immediate surroundings; sufficient circumstantial evidence exists to warrant giving the advice that wherever the trouble is known to be present among the sheep on any property, it will be a wise and desirable precautionary measure to cither saturate the soil of the yards with a strong antiseptic solution, say, one part of non-poisonous dip to 20 parts of water, or. what is better still and more * borough, to remove the whole of the surface soil for a depth of at least nine inches and replace it by fresh, clean soil, such as could be obtained by excavating into a hillside. The dressing of all wounds seen at sheaving time is a very necessary precaution. This fact is brought to the notice of the department from time to time when losses oecur from blood -poisoning after shearing. Any extra labour involved is. therefore, worth the trouble in reducing the prevalence of lymphadenitis; and secondly, ns a preventive of blood poisoning. That ewes are more commonly affected may be due to the fact that they are more O', ton exposed to infection ot wounds liable to be caused during shearing erutcaing.