Small Ruminants: Neonatal Lamb Disease Flashcards
What is the difference between neonatal and perinatal?
Neonatal- the period immediately after birth 1-2 weeks
Perinatal- the period around parturition
What can cause neonatal death intra-partum (0-24 hours)
- Born dead
- Birth stress resulting in failure to suck, hypothermia
- Anoxia/hypoxia
- Ruptured liver
- Fractured ribs
- Brain haemorrhage
What are the different common causes of post-partum lost of neonates?
- Hypothermia
- Starvation
- Infections
- Predation
- Accidents
- Congenital defects
What are the common infections that cause post-partum lamb losses?
- Watery mouth
- Salmonella
- Cryptosporidia
- Septicaemia
- Meningitis
- Joint ill
- Clostridial disease
- Pasturellosis
What are the different risk factors for lamb losses?
- Ewe factors- genetics, experience, health, nutrition, litter, stress, colostrum, vaccination
- Lamb factors- birth weight, genetics, lamb vigour, vaccination status
- Environmental factors- hygiene, shelter, castration/tail docking, sheperds, weather
How much colostrum should a lamb be given within the first 25 hours?
50ml/kg first feed
200ml/kg in 24 hours
What is the threshold for FPT of serum TP?
- Serum TP >5.5g/dL
FPR threshold for IgG assessed by radial immunodiffusion 10-15mg/ml
What are the risk factors for poor colostrum intake
- Concurrent disease- dystocia, lameness
- Undernutrition ewe
- Breeding
- Age of ewes
- Multiple births
- Lambing environment- stress, mis mothering, shepherding, weather
What are the 4 options for colostrum substitutes?
- Ewe colostrum- can use 10-15 iu oxytocin i.m to assist milking out single ewes
- Goat colostrum- good antibody spectrum, similar energy, must be CAE negative flocks
- Cow colostrum- 2 hours of calving, Johne’s and TB neg, less energy
- Commercial colostrum substitutes- variable quality
How can hypothermia be prevented?
- Lambing period
- Genetics- system, mothers
- Ewe nutrition- lamb birth weight, brown fat, colostrum
- Provide field shelter
- Identify at risk lambs
- Lamb coats
How should hypothermia be controlled?
- Don’t warm a warm hypoglycaemic lamb without giving it glucose first- will have a hypoglycaemic fit
- Oral administratoin of fluids to hypothermic lambs can cause regurgitatoin and inhalation pneumonia or asphyxia
- Use i/p glucose
What should be asssessed and done to resolve starvation
Starvation- after a few hours and a failure to suck
Holding the head- stomach tube
Not holding the head- IP glucose (20% glucose solution can be made equal by adding boiling water to 40% solution
What are the different common enteric diseases that can affect neonatal lambs?
- Watery mouth
- Lamb dysentery
- ETEC
- Septicaemia/meningitis (pasturellosis)
- Salmonella
- Cryptosporidium parbum
- Drunken lamb syndrome
What are the clinical signs of watery mouth disease?
- 12-72 hours of age
- Dull
- Unwilling to suck
- Drooling saliva
- Profuse lacrimation
- Frequently accompanied by abomasal tympany
- Scouring unusual- constipation/retained meconium
- What are the consequences of watery mouth disease?
- What does a PM show
- Death within 24 hours
* Terminal hypogylcaemia, hypothermia and lactic acidaemia
- Death within 24 hours
- Few abnormalities, abomasum distended with gas, saliva and clots of milk, Bacteraemia evident
DDXs- lamb dysentry, neonatal scours, drunken lamb syndrome
- What is the aetiology and pathogenesis of watery mouth disease?
- What are the risk factors?
- Endotoxaemia leading to terminal hypoglycaemia, lactic acidaemia and leucopenia.
Delayed abomasal emptying - Increased litter size, lamb size (small), ewe condition, time, colostrum, housed lambs
How is watery mouth disease treated?
- Enteral/parenteral antibiotics
- Glucose/electrolyte solution by stomach tube
- Not feeding milk
- Amoxicillin + claculanic acid
- Flunixin meglumine
- Oral rehydration
How can watery mouth be prevented and controlled?
- Promoting adequate volumes of good quality colostrum- stomach tube
- Clean dry bedding
- Cleaning and disinfection
- Can use metaphylactic ABs
When is antibiotic use for WMD suitable?
According to SVS
Targeted oral ABs approptiate:
* Lambs born into groups with previous clinical cases
* Triplets or low birth weights
- What causes lamb dysentery?
- How old are affected lambs?
- What are the clinical signs?
- What does a PM show?
- Caused by clostridium perfringens type B
- 1-3 days of age
- Sudden death, haemorrhagic diarrhoea
- PM- dark red intestines, blood stained peritoneal fluid, pale friable liver
How is lamb dysentery prevented?
- Vaccination of ewes with multivalent clostridial vaccines- heptavac
Good passive transfer of MDAs
- When can lambs be infected with enterotoxigenic E.coli?
- What are the clinical signs
- How is it treated?
- How is it controlled?
- Uncommon, E.coli with K99 or F41 antigen, First 24-48 hours
- Watery brown diarrhoea
- Treatment with fluid therapy
- Control through hygiene, adequate colostrum intake, isolation
Oral ABs
- What strains can casue neonatal salmonellosis?
- What are the clinical signs?
- How is it diagnosed?
- S. tymphimurium, dublin
- Weakness, profuse watery diarhhoea, blood stained, dehydration, death
- Culture
Intestinal inflammation, reduced absorption, increased secretions
Zoonosis
- What causes cryptosporidiosis?
- What is its pathogenesis?
- How is it treated?
- Cryptosporidium parvum
- Villous atrophy in distal SI, malabsorption, secondary fermentation and diarrhoea
- Supportive oral therapy
What is drunken lamb syndrome also known as?
- Lamb nephrosis
- Lamb D-lactic acidosis syndrome
- What are the clinical signs of lamb nephrosis?
- What is the suggested hypothesis?
- 7-10 days old/1-2 months, ataxia, stop sucking, recumbant and depressed, high mortality
- Gut pathogens cause villous atrophy and rapid gut transit, leads to bacterial fermentation in gut, D-lactic acidosis, increased phosphate from hypoxia (neurological signs and nephrosis from increased urea)
How is drunken lamb treated?
400ml of warm tap water
35g of sodium bicarbonate
50ml given as a single oral bolus
Prevention- hygiene, smaller lambs more risk, increased towards end of lambing
- When is joint isll usually seen in lambs?
- How does it present?
- How can it be treated?
- Usually seen in lambs aged 2-3 weeks
- Sudden onset lameness, single or multiple joints
- Variable response to treatment, often poor
- Antibiotics and NSAIDs- long course penicillin in early cases (euthanasia in later cases)
What pathogens is commonly the cause of joint ill?
Streptococcus dysgalactiae
Can be others
- What are the different possible sources of infection of joint ill?
- How can it be prevented?
- Teats, Milk, Dirty wool, Dirty pens
Cutaneous- wounds, umbilicus, docking, ear tagging - Colostrum, hygiene, navel dipping, farm specfic risk factors
How can navel ill be prevented?
- Total immersion of the navel in veterinary iodine within 15 minutes
- Repeated 2-4 hours later
- Good hygiene practices
- Colostrum
- Treatment- penicillin, potentiated amoxicillin
- What can predispose to iodine deficiency?
- What is the clinical presentation?
- What shows on PM
- Plants high in thiocyanates
- Goitre (big swelling in neck) in new born lambs, late abortions, minimal fleece in live lambs
- PM- Histopathology of the thyroid gland- weight >0.4g/kh live weight
How is iodine deficiency treated and prevented?
Prevention- Ewe supplementation iodised oil injections, oral 8/4 weeks prior lambing
Treatment- oral potassium iodide 20mg/lamb
Where can copper deficiency be common?
How does it present?
Common in some upland/hill areas
Swayback, fine head tremour, osteoporosis, tendon abnormalities, depigmentation of coloured wool, poor quality wool, anaemia
How is it swayback diagnosed and treated?
Diagnosis- clinical signs, histopathology of the brain and spinal cord, liver copper conc <80mg/kh
Treatment- none (euthanasia)
How can copper deficiency be investigated and prevented?
- Supplementation of the ewe throughout pregnancy
- Risk of toxicity- prevalence, breed
- Blood samples and liver tissue samples pre-tupping
- 4 ewes per managment group or 8 per flock if managed as a whole
How can copper be supplemented?
- Injections of chelated copper
- Mineralised drenches -short term
- Mineral supplements
- Copper capsuled and boluses- slow release copper
- Don’t provide more then one source of supplementation
What is white muscle disease?
What is it also known as?
What does it cause?
Vitamin E and Selenium deficiency
AKA- nutritional muscular dystrophy, stiff lamb disease
Causes degeneration of skeletal and cardiac muscle
- What are the clinical signs of white muscle disease?
- How is it treated?
- Weak lambs with difficulty sucking
- Tx- Potassium selenate 0.75-1.5mg, vitamin E- 34-68mg
Prevented by supplementatoin at least 6 weeks before lambing
What is Atresia Ani?
How can it be treated?
Failure of the anus and sometimes part or all of the terminal colon and/or rectum to form properly
May end blindly or open into the vagina, urethra or bladder
Can be treated surgically
What are the best techniques for entropion in lambs from highest success rate to lowest?
Surgical excision- 92.4%
Injection (1ml s.c penicillin)
Pinching
Michel wound clip
How should prolapsed intestines be approached?
- GA
- Surgically prepare
- Clean intestines- sterile fluid
- Enlarge hole
- Replace
- Suture defect, good after care
How should lamb morbidity/mortality issues be investigated?
- History
- Farm records
- Farm visit- examine ewes and lambs, risk factors
- Samples- Lamb PMs, Blood sample ewes, faeces
What should be taken for a history of a farm and what are the risk factors?
History
* Lambing season
* Length
* Indoors/outdoors
* Breeds
* Age of lambs
* Abortion history
* Dystocia
* Colostrum policy
* Castratoin/tail docking policy
* Vaccinations
* Ewe health issues
* Farm specific issues
* Farm treatments
Risk Factors
* Hygiene
* Stocking Rates
* Pen Sizes
* Ventilation
What should be checked and notes on Lamb PMs?
Weight- excessive suggests dystocia
Hardened feet- walked
Carcasse
External Meconium staining
Trauma abnormalities
Watery mouth
Scours
Haemorrhage
Swelling
Fleece
Deformities- cleft palate, brachygnathia, entropion
Navel ill
Bloating
Describe a Lamb PM
Open carcass abdomen and thorax
* Brown fat around kidneys
* Milk/colostrum in abomasum
* Lung aeration shows partum/post patum death (float test)
* Hepatic rupture, thoracic, abdominal or meningeal haemorrhage
* Thyroid gland size
* Infectious causes
How can dystocia and hypothermia show on a PM?
Dystocia- swollen head/tongue, meconium staining, oedema head and shoulders, fractured ribs, free blood in carcasse, haemorrhage
Hypothermia- no brown fat, minimal body fat, no milk in abomasum
How should ewes and rams be selected for pre-tupping?
Ewe selectoin at pre-tupping check:
Fit healthy, no mastitis, not broken mouth, good mothers, low dystocia
Ram selection:
Low dystocia, vigorous lambs
How can managment reduce lamb mortality?
- Housing
- Stocking density
- Group size and constitution
- Dry clean bedding
- Clean and disinfect lambing
- Dag ewes
- Separate off ill ewes, ill lambs
- Provide shelter in fields
How can managment for lamb care reduce mortality?
Lambing hygiene- wear gloves, disinfect hands and equipment
Lamb care- dip navels twice in iodine, don’t castrate in first 24 hours, ensure adequate colostrum, ewes and lambs vaccinated, disinfect all feedinf equipment
