Lung Worm in Sheep.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 342, 13 February 1889, Page 5

Lung Worm in Sheep.

It has been supposed by some that tho parasite so latal to lambs, known as lung-worm,-enter the bronchial tubes whcio they do their mischief directly through cither the mouth or the nostrils of the Jambs. It has. therefore been argued that remedies which acted upon the stomach could have but little effect in destroying t'icso parasites. We honestly con fess that wo have reasoned on these lines ourselves, ml therefore have advocated as oflicacious only those remedies which acted directly upon the bieathing organs and passages, as for instance the inhalation of carbolic spray, etc. However it would appear fiora Piafc sor Henry SbcwaiL'saccounbof thelife-lu-tory of the lung worm, at the proper time the lung-worm can bo got at through tho stomach.' Stewart says that late autumn is the timo to tacklo this trouble. He writos :—: — "Parasites which infest the flock are much to be dicaded. Tho worst is tho lung thread-woim nhich prevails everywhere an lis most destructhe to the lambs. This worm is almost always present in the old sheep, which, by roa=on of their gi eater strength to icsist its injurious effects, don't suffer from it very soiiously. It is a lony, thin, white worm, called a thread-worm (/ttcirui) fiom its lesemblanco to a piece of thread. It io foun iin old sheep, mostly in tho intestine-;, where it subsists upon tho mucous secretions, and unless quite numerous gives no apparent indication of its existence ; but when in large numbers it produces diairluea, coughing and emaciation The mature worms perish as soon as they have completed their vcpioductive function, whan a laige number of eggs are disengaged and pass off with tho dun". These eggs are loosened as the droppings in which they aic entangled aie washed apart, and they adhere to the grass, with which theyaic baken into the stomachs of other sheep or lambs pasturing upon the herbage; or they a>e gathered with the hay and with that gain access to their new hosts. Hatching in the stomach, the young worms make iheir way to the throat and there gather into masses as they couple for the purpose of impregnation. These masses are found in the throat and bronchial tubes and cause intense irritation, pre\cnt injr perfect respiration and tho consequent full aviation and oxidation of the blood. The result is imperfect nutrition, loss of vitality, and weakened blood. The skin and the visible membranes are thus deprived of their proper colour and become pale and thin, giving rise to the wellknown condition known as ' pining,' or ' paperskin,' and by veterinarians as * anceniia,' or want of blood. " This disorder is the worst to which lambs ate subject and destroys thousands which might be saved by due precaution to a\ oid pasturing lambs with, or following, old sheep, or the use of hay cut on fields upon which sheep ha\e run. Turpentine in small repeated do?es (one teaspoonful) in milk or raw linsed oil given daily for a week, usually frees the lambs from those pest', and larger closer will free the older sheep from them. This treatment should not be neglected at the beginning of v\ inter as a safeguard against the danger which is then imminent/