Are iceberg diseases hiding below the surface in your flock?
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Thin Ewe Study, which is being conducted through its network of Regional Veterinary Labs, aims to aid flock owners in the diagnosis of iceberg diseases.
These diseases, as Shane McGettrick of the Regional Veterinary Lab (RVL) in Sligo explained on a recent Let’s Talk Sheep Webinar, cause a lot of sub-clinical disease. The clinical symptoms are often referred to as the tip of the iceberg - only a small proportion of the symptoms are visible.
As a group of diseases, they have the potential to eat away at the efficiency of the animal and on-farm profitability. Such diseases include: Border Disease; Caseous Lymphadenitis; Maedi Visna; Ovine Johne’s Disease; and Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma.
On the Let’s Talk Sheep Webinar, held on January 10th, McGettrick encouraged farmers who have thin ewes for no obvious reason - such as poor teeth, parasites or other common infectious agents - to avail of the Thin Ewe Study, as the best way to diagnose these diseases is through post-mortem examination. From there, a control plan can be implemented at farm level to lessen the impact of such iceberg diseases into future years.
For further details on the iceberg diseases outlined above, watch Shane McGettrick’s presentation below:
As part of the study, McGettrick said, flock owners undertake to send up to three thin ewes to their local RVL for euthanasia and post-mortem. Flocks will be considered to have completed the protocol if they submit three thin ewes, or if an iceberg disease is identified in at least one ewe submitted. Although ongoing and capped at 180 flocks, farmers who think they have an issue with iceberg diseases were encouraged to partake in the study.
For more information on iceberg diseases, click here.
To find out more about the Let's Talk Sheep webinar series, click here.