sheep abortion

[Lili]

Had the results back for our latest abortion. Vet says it is Q Fever, apparently humans can get it as Flu. He said there is no treatment for it. Anyone else heard of it? @bovine

Remember years ago someone in the Archers caught it from drying a newborn lamb with a hairdryer and inhaling the vapour. My advice would be to be very careful about washing and disinfecting hands etc as a flu virus is the last thing you need at the moment. How do the sheep get it and does it have any effect apart from abortion? Best wishes

 

[msheep66]

Remember years ago someone in the Archers caught it from drying a newborn lamb with a hairdryer and inhaling the vapour. My advice would be to be very careful about washing and disinfecting hands etc as a flu virus is the last thing you need at the moment. How do the sheep get it and does it have any effect apart from abortion? Best wishes

The sheep pick it up from a bacteria in the bedding I believe.

 

[bovine]

We have had a conformation of Campylobacter from APHA so dealing with it as best we can. Up to 3.5% of flock (30+ ewes) have now aborted with 10 days to go.Have held off injecting but with 7 ewes today I'm not sure I can hold my nerve. Will antibiotics have any effect on ewes that are 10 days off or is it too late for them?

ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT DOES NOT REDUCE OR PREVENT ABORTIONS WHEN THEY ARE CAUSED BY CAMPYLOBACTER

 

[bovine]

ment

Had the results back for our latest abortion. Vet says it is Q Fever, apparently humans can get it as Flu. He said there is no treatment for it. Anyone else heard of it? @bovine

We see it from time to time. Can be confused with enzootic on a placental smear. Sadly little you can do, but make sure you wear gloves when handling sheep and wash your hands well before eating etc. Particular care around young, elderly, pregnant and those with weakened immune systems.

 

[neilo]

ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT DOES NOT REDUCE OR PREVENT ABORTIONS WHEN THEY ARE CAUSED BY CAMPYLOBACTER

There is plenty of advice to be found on t'internet to suggest that it 'might' help. Faced with no other treatment option available, I would certainly go through with Oxytet if I had a storm again (not routinely every year like a lot round here do for Enzo though).

Just a couple of the links I found in a few minutes on Google:
http://www.farmhealthonline.com/disease-management/sheep-diseases/campylobacteriosis/
http://www.westpointfarmvets.co.uk/sheep-abortion/

 

[rancher]

ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT DOES NOT REDUCE OR PREVENT ABORTIONS WHEN THEY ARE CAUSED BY CAMPYLOBACTER

Very hard not to try everything when you're at the pit face

 

[jonny]

Does anyone have any ideas if the campy settles down or does it run through the whole length of the lambing. I’m just really starting now and half are weak or dead

 

[rancher]

Does anyone have any ideas if the campy settles down or does it run through the whole length of the lambing. I’m just really starting now and half are weak or dead

First year here was a nightmare, It felt like it went on all year, never had it as bad since,
Whether that's due to a level of immunity in the flock or the antibiotics I used....

 

[Mcnulty24]

Oh man, can’t like that, due to start next Friday, lost 10% already.

 

[neilo]

First year here was a nightmare, It felt like it went on all year, never had it as bad since,
Whether that's due to a level of immunity in the flock or the antibiotics I used....

We first had a Campy storm nearly 30 years ago. Research at the time suggested that we would only have a few cases in following years as the disease 'rumbled on'. with a storm every now and again. I can confirm that has indeed been the case since. I'm now vaccinating ewe lambs and shearlings, and hoping that there is enough of a background challenge to give immunity to everything that's been around for longer.

There is also a suggestion that infection can be caused by bad hygiene, particularly round feeding troughs. At the time we had our last big storm (15% had aborted before it happened to stop a few days after I jabbed them all), the flock were grazing stubble turnips only, so clean arable ground with no concentrates or bales being fed.

 

[muleman]

ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT DOES NOT REDUCE OR PREVENT ABORTIONS WHEN THEY ARE CAUSED BY CAMPYLOBACTER

does the capitals mean you are shouting?!

 

[Mcnulty24]

[QUOTE="neilo, post: 4912702, member: 348"

There is also a suggestion that infection can be caused by bad hygiene, particularly round feeding troughs. At the time we had our last big storm (15% had aborted before it happened to stop a few days after I jabbed them all), the flock were grazing stubble turnips only, so clean arable ground with no concentrates or bales being fed.

[/QUOTE]

Same here - grass then roots. No bales or concentrate

 

[rancher]

Same here - grass then roots. No bales or concentrate[/QUOTE]

Same here,The bad storm I had was strip grazing grass, 2 days on a block in good weather, changed every day in bad weather. so hygiene wasn't the problem either

 

[jonny]

First year here was a nightmare, It felt like it went on all year, never had it as bad since,
Whether that's due to a level of immunity in the flock or the antibiotics I used.... [emoji57]

That’s what I was worried about. Dead ones are bad enough but weak ones are a nightmare. Did you use the antibiotics the first year only or annually?

 

[cotswoldcs]

Had a bad day yesterday but better today. So far all ewes with the odd exception are from the earlier lambing flock (according to raddle colours). Could I be lucky that the later lambing ewes won't be affected or is it just a matter of time with Campylobacter? So far had 4% of ewes abort but still 10 days before we officially start. Does it go on all lambing or will it settle once lambing starts?

 

[rancher]

That’s what I was worried about. Dead ones are bad enough but weak ones are a nightmare. Did you use the antibiotics the first year only or annually?

No, didn't give antbiotic the first year,I was waiting for a result from lab , vet didn't tell me that antibiotic was an option.
First year was the worse, but only seem to get cases every four or five years since.
Last outbreak we confined to one pen in the shed with antibiotics we thought ! ! !!! had a couple of cases in one pen and injected both it and the pen beside it.Unlikely it was just coincidental that it didn't spread
First outbreak came only a couple years after similar with enzo, ....we had that vaccinated for when along came campy..
Could nearly write a book at this stage.

 

[jamie]

Can vaccinated ewes from a flock that has Enzo, infect clean ewes in a different flock? Also could ewe lambs from a flock that vaccinated for Enzo infect clean ewes?

 

[neilo]

Can vaccinated ewes from a flock that has Enzo, infect clean ewes in a different flock? Also could ewe lambs from a flock that vaccinated for Enzo infect clean ewes?

I wouldn't worry about the ewe lambs from vaccinated ewes, much less so than ewe lambs from unvaccinated ewes that might have slipped with EAE. IIRC you can get the odd ewe that slips with EAE that becomes a carrier for life. I've no idea if that ewe would still carry and shed after she'd been vaccinated. Again though, I'd be far less concerned about the risk of EAE from vaccinated ewes, than I was from unvaccinated ewes, unless you were 110% certain the flock didn't have it (EAE accredited for example).

 

[neilo]

No, didn't give antbiotic the first year,I was waiting for a result from lab , vet didn't tell me that antibiotic was an option.
First year was the worse, but only seem to get cases every four or five years since.
Last outbreak we confined to one pen in the shed with antibiotics we thought ! ! !!! had a couple of cases in one pen and injected both it and the pen beside it.Unlikely it was just coincidental that it didn't spread
First outbreak came only a couple years after similar with enzo, ....we had that vaccinated for when along came campy..
Could nearly write a book at this stage.

Have you asked your vet about vaccinated for Campy, assuming you can get it imported over there? Campyvax4 is the stuff, and the last lot I had cost less than the antibiotic would anyway (quite apart from whether the ab works or not).

 

[rancher]

Have you asked your vet about vaccinated for Campy, assuming you can get it imported over there? Campyvax4 is the stuff, and the last lot I had cost less than the antibiotic would anyway (quite apart from whether the ab works or not).

Going to be farming only 12 acres from now on, so won't be as worried about abortions.