Neonatal Lamb Disease Watery Mouth

Question 1

What pathogen causes Watery mouth in lambs?

Answer 1

E coli

Question 2

Clinical Signs of watery mouth disease

Answer 2

o Within first 3 days of birth (12-72 hrs)
o Depressed, profuse salivation, swollen abdomen due to seriously distended abomasum, collapse, dehydration and death
o Sometimes lacrimation
o Normal temp
o Unwilling to suck
o often Abdominal tympany – gas filled
o Scouring unusual – constipation/ retained meconium often present
- delayed abomasa watering

Question 3

Morbidity and mortality of WMD

Answer 3

1. Death within 24hrs
2. Terminal hypoglycaemia, hypothermia, lactic acidaemia
3. Morbidity around 24%
4. Mortality around 83%

Question 4

Pathogenesis of watery mouth disease

Answer 4

o E coli
o lack of colostrum or delay in getting colostrum allows gram –ve bacteria multiply unchallenged
o bacteraemia
o bacterial death releases endotoxins
o lamb dies of endotoxemia

Question 5

what is endotoxemia

Answer 5

Endotoxins are released when bacteria die, and then dissociated endotoxins are able to cross the gastro-intestinal barrier to end up in the bloodstream

Question 6

What are risk factors of water mouth disease

Answer 6

o ↑ litter size; ↓ birthweight; early castration; inadequate colostrum; poor Hygiene
Later in lambing period as pathogen build up
- Smaller Lambs
- Ewe condition
- Time
- Colostrum
- Housed Lambs

Question 7

Ddx of watery mouth disease

Answer 7

o Lamb dysentery
o ‘Neonatal Scours’ –E.coliK99, Rotavirus, etc.
o ‘Drunken lamb syndrome’ (lamb D-lactic acidosis syndrome)

Question 8

Tx of WMD

Answer 8

o Oral fluids (50ml/ kg every 6 hours)
o Non Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs have a Anti-endotoxiceffects e.fflunixin2.2mg/kg
o Antibiotics
a) Effective gram negative
b) amoxicillin/clavonulic acid injection, neomycin or spectinomycin orally
c) 5 days
o Glucose electrolytes tube
- often fatal

Question 9

How do we prevent watery mouth disease

Answer 9

o Mainly a management issue!!
o Nutrition/BCS of pregnant ewes
o Hygiene of ewes (dagging)
o Colostrum- adequate volumes of good quality
 check colostrum status (e.gTP)
 discuss colostrum policy e.g targeting
o Hygiene (environment)
 Clean dry bedding
o Don’t castrate until >24 hrs old
o Metaphylactic oral antibiotics
 e.g neomycin, spectinomycin, can be used in an outbreak situation
 Check/monitor antibiotic sensitivity
Lamb literally catches this from environment. Race is on from as soon as it hits the floor

Question 10

What causes D+ in neonatal lambs

Answer 10

1. Lamb dysentery (Clostridium perfingens) - 1-3 days old
2. E coli (Enterotoxigenic E colis) - Uncommon, 24-48 hrs, Watery brown D+
3. Rotavirus
4. Cryptosporidiaparvum
5. Salmonellosis (typhimurium or Dublin

Question 11

Tx neonatal D+

Answer 11

like watery mouth, isolation, supportive warmth, oral/i.p/i.v fluid, systemic antibiotics as required

Question 12

Prevention of neonatal D+ in lambs

Answer 12

o Hygiene, colostrum (FPT)
o Vaccination ewes with multivalent clostridial vaccines
o turn outside to clean pasture if weather permits

Question 13

CS of joint in aka infectious arthritis caused by the main etiological agent Streptococcus dysgalactaie

Answer 13

• Lambs 2-4 weeks old, (less than 4)can be earlier
• Sudden onset lameness
  o *Mild or no pyrexia
  o *Lameness (moderate to severe)
  o *Single joint (50% cases) to two to four joints,
  o *Paresis and tetra-paresis, intra-vertebral joints affected
  o *Carpal, hock, fetlock, stifle most common
  o *Joint swollen hot and painful, progress chronic thickened joints, restricted movement, poor growth
  o *Radiographically thickening joint capsule osteophytic changes

Question 14

aetiology of infectious arthritis (joint ill)

Answer 14

1. Streptococcus dysgalactaie = Main cause = polyartheritis
2. Erysipelothrix rhusiopathie
3. Tick pyaemia -Staphylococcus aureus (Anaplasmaphagocytophilia)

Question 15

Routes of infection of infectious arthritis

Answer 15

unknown but possible are:

 Milk?
 Teats?
 Dirty wool?
 Dirty pens?
 Faecal? Unknown
 Bedding ?
o Respiratory?
o Cutaneous
 Good evidence important
 SDD infection of wounds such as umbilicus and docking and castration ear tagging
 Any hole!

Question 16

Tx joint ill

Answer 16

o 5 day course antibiotic penicillin early in disease
- suggest repeat once if required then euthanise if not better
- Penicillin/amoxicillin drug of choice
- Not sensitive to tetracyclines
- 2 isolates from one farm resistant to penicillin
o NSAIDs
o Dexamethasone (inter-vertebral joint spaces)
o. Culture, sterile sampling of the joint

Question 17

Preventative treatment of infectious arthritis (JI)

Answer 17

o Move all ewes and lambs away from contaminated environment - turn out to pasture
o Ensure colostrum intakes
o Navels dipping 10% iodine 15 minutes old and repeated 2-4 hours later
o Metaphylactic treatment neonatal lambs in the face of an outbreak but not continued in successive years
o Nutrition
o AM resistance to tetracyclines!!!!
o Paper – characteristics of sheep flocks by streptococcus dysgalactiae artheritis
- clea and disinfect sheds
remove placenta
- wear gloves
- disinfect all equipment

Question 18

CS of joint ill caused by

Answer 18

 Lambs 6wks to 6 months old
 Polyarthritis (fibrinous), pyrexia, lameness

Question 19

o Source of Infection joint ill caused by - Erysipelothrix rhusiopathie

Answer 19

 Organisms is ubiquitous commensal and pathogen
* Faeces urine saliva nasal sections carrier animals or wild birds
* Survive in environment several weeks
* Environmental contamination of bedding, soil, water, food, equipment
 Skin wounds are considered the route of infection to the lamb
* Surgical castration and docking sites
* ?umbilicus

Question 20

What is the scientific name of navel ill

Answer 20

Omphalophlebitis

Question 21

Pathogenesis of navel ill

Answer 21

• infectious starts in navel and ascends up to bladder to liver, and spread to joints
• Hepatic necrobacillosis with Fusobacterium necrophorum “white spot” 2-10 mm diameter. FN also in sheep lameness and calf diptheria

Question 22

CS - Omphalophlebitis

Answer 22

o Hunched back, poor body condition, poor suckling
o Navel moist swollen painful pus

Question 23

Tx - Omphalophlebitis

Answer 23

1. Prognosis guarded
2. Broad Spectrum Antibiotics
3. At least 5-7 days
4. Penicillin, amoxicillin, (plus clavonulicacid)

Question 24

How do we prevent Navel Ill/Omphalophlebitis

Answer 24

o Navel dipping, hygiene and colostrum
o Race between stopping bugs getting in
o Total immersion of navel in strong veterinary iodine within 15 mins and DRY
 Other things you can use but not as good as iodine as issues with supply
o Repeat 2-4 hrs later
o Good hygiene practices
o Colostrum
o Treatment – penicillin, potentiated amoxicillin
- Worse indoors due to higher conc animals together. Can get outside on things like troughs or shelter – use hydrated lyme which would reduce some pathogen numbers
- But limited in what you can do as can’t dip outside
- If real issue move to clean pasture?

Question 25

CS meningitis in lambs

Answer 25

o Weak depressed, collapsed, fitting, Congestion of blood vessels round the eyes
o Prognosis guarded

Question 27

What causes drunken lamb syndrome?

Answer 27

UNKNOWN

Question 28

CS drunken lamb disease

Answer 28

o 1 and 3 weeks of age.
o 7-10 days and 1-2 months
o acute ataxia and inco-ordinated tending to recumbency and depression.
o Stop sucking
o High mortality = 100%
o ◦Death quickly follows usually within 24 to 48 hours

Question 29

Diagnosis Drunken lamb disease in neonatal lambs

Answer 29

o CS and Lab confirmation
o Biochem may be weakly azotaemic, hyperphosphataemicand all have a metabolic acidosis which may be very severe (<10 mmol/L HCO3) which is characterised by an excess of D-lactate (as a result of colonic fermentation).
o PM nephrosishas been observed although the relevance of the nephrosis with the clinical signs is unresolved.

Question 30

Tx Drunken lamb disease

Answer 30

o 50mmol of a molar solution of sodium bicarbonate dissolved in tap water (35g sodium bicarbonate dissolved in 400ml tap water to make a stock solution of 8 doses) was given orally together with parenteral long acting amoxicillin.
o Clinical recovery was rapid with resolution of the clinical signs within a few hours and the lambs returning to suckle their mothers.

Question 31

What trace and hit deficiencies do we see in lambs?

Answer 31

Iodine deficiency, copper deficiency and sway back, white muscle disease

Question 32

What is swayback a disease of?

Answer 32

Copper deficiency
Ewes deficient during pregnancy
copper required for many enzyme systems in the body

Question 33

CS of copper deficiency

Answer 33

aka sway back

fine head tremor, osteoporosis, tendon abnormalities, depigmentation of coloured wool, poor wool quality – steely wool, anaemia

o Stillbirths, weak lambs, characteristic weakness of pelvic limbs
o Delayed form in older lambs

Question 34

What breeds are more susceptible to copper deficiency

Answer 34

Scottish Blackface

Question 35

Tx copper deficiency

Answer 35

 range available, injections, boluses capsules
 None - euthanasia

Question 36

Diagnose copper def

Answer 36

 CS
 Histopath brain and spinal cord
 Liver copper conc <80mg/kg

Question 37

How to prevent copper deficiency in ewes

Answer 37

 Supplement ewe throughout preg
* Injection of chelated copper (lasts 6 weeks)
* Mineralised drench – short term
o Last 1/3rd preg
* Mineral supplements – variable intakes
* Copper capsules and boluses – slow release copper
o He recommedne this
* Don’t provide more than 1 source of supplement
 Risk of toxicity!
* Consider prevalence, breed, use of supplementary feed and geographical area
 Blood and liver tissue samples pre tupping

Question 38

Iron deficiency in sheep

Answer 38

o Uncommon, N wales
o Thiocyanates block uptake of iodine within gut. Common to use root crops as energy and protein source to protect grass = good reason for feeding but could inc risk of iodine deficiency if not being supplemented by another good food source such as silage
o Ewes grazing pasture or crops high goitrogens (eg brassicas, swedes, kale, turnips, rape) or soil deficiency

Question 39

CS iodine deficiency

Answer 39

 Goitre in new born lambs
 Late aboritons
 Minimal fleece in live lambs

Question 40

Diagnosis iron def

Answer 40

 Histopath of thyroid gland
 Thyroid gland weight >0.4g/kg live weight. Need to do on 15 ish lambs to get diagnostic
o Lamb morbidity/ mortality issue
 Abortion
 Lambs born weak and susceptible to hypothermia starvation pot bellied appearance and enlarged thyroid gland

Question 41

Tx iron deficiency in lambs

Answer 41

 Prevention:
* Ewe supplement  iodised oil injections, oral doseing 8 and 4 weeks prior to lambing
* Boluses?
 Oral pot iodine = cheap and works but only persists within ewe for week. If given last 1/3rd preg = sufficient in preventing sufficient dx\20mg per lamb
 dose ewes 280mg potassium iodine 4 wks pre –lambing or boluses available. In deficient flocks some people have also dosed 4 weeks before mating too.

Question 42

• White muscle Disease

Answer 42

o AKA nutritional muscular dystrophy or stiff lamb dx
o Uncommon
o Vit E and Selenium deficiency
o Degeneration of skeletal and cardiac muscle
o Unlike swayback can treat
o CS and path:
 Weak lmabs, difficulty sucking
 Histopath of cardiac musculature
o Tx – Potassium selenate and Vit E
o Prevented by supplementation at least 6 weeks before lambing