References
Mastitis in meat sheep
Abstract
Mastitis in meat sheep occurs in all flocks, but incidence can vary. It can be a severe disease, resulting in ewe deaths, but chronic and subclinical cases also occur. It is a costly disease, but accurate assesments of the impact, especially of chronic and subclinical disease, are lacking. The most commonly involved pathogens are Mannheimia haemolytica and Staphylococcus aureus. The most important risk factors relate to compromise of teat defences, and increased transmission, but environmental cases do occur. Treatment of acute clinical cases requires systemic antibiosis and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug administration, and, where required, supportive care. Prevention involves tackling the risk factors, and using vaccination and breeding to reduce ewe susceptibility.
Mastitis is a commonly encountered disease of suckling sheep. Veterinary surgeons will frequently be presented with severe, acute cases, or consulted by farmers about treatment and prevention. Acute mastitis can result in the death of the ewe, and both acute and chronic mastitis will result in the culling of the ewe (increasing replacement rate and reducing ewe longevity), and will negatively impact ewe welfare, milk production and lamb growth rate. It is likely that the impact of mild and subclinical mastitis in meat sheep is underestimated. The studies that have been performed indicate that these conditions can have a significant negative impact on lamb growth rate. It is important for practitioners to understand the aetiology, risk factors, treatment and prevention options in order to minimise the welfare and economic impacts of the disease.
Mastitis is a problem encountered in all sheep flocks, although incidence can vary widely. Grant et al (2016), performed mammary examinations on 4721 ewes across 10 suckler flocks over a 2-year period. This was done at varying stages throughout the production year and recorded a prevalence of 2.1–3.0% cases of acute mastitis per year. Also in the study 4.7% of ewes had intramammary masses during pregnancy and 10.9% of ewes had intramammary masses during lactation. (Intramammary masses are associated with chronic mastitis and are a frequent reason for culling ewes out of the flock, regardless of their age or stage of productive life). (Figure 1).
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