Small Ruminants: Sudden Death, Clostridial and Notifiable Diseases Flashcards
What are the differentials for lambs under 1 week old with sudden death?
- Congenital issue
- Birth trauma
- Starvation
- Hypothermia
- Clostridial disease- lamb dysentry, tetanus
- Neonatal infections- menigitis, septicaemia, watery mouth
- Intestinal torsion
- Predators
What are the differentials for older lambs from sudden death?
- Infections- clostridial disease (pulpy kidney, braxy, abomastitis, tetanus), Pasturellosis (M. haemolytica
- Urolithiasis
- Parasitic gastroenteritis- N. battus
- Acute fluke
- Haemonchosis
- Rumen Acidosis
- Plant poisoning
What are the differentials for sudden death in adult sheep?
- Metabolic disease- hypocalcaemia, hypomagnesaemia
- Parasitic disease- fluke, haemonchosis
- Plant poisoning- rhodendron, yew, laurel, acorns
- Infection- pasturellosis, toxaemia
- Clostridial disease- struck, black leg, black’s disease, tetanus
- When is plant poisoning usually common?
- What are common causes?
- What are the clinical signs and treatment?
- Usually when lack of other available food- starvation, frost- Need to have access
- Yew, Acord, Laurel, Rhodendron
- Sudden Death, Abdominal pain, neurological signs
Treatment- Supportive, rumenotomy
DX- PME, History, Examine field
- What causes pneumonic pasturellosis?
- What is the disease associated with?
- How is it controlled and treated?
- Manhaemia haemolytica- normal inhabitant of nasopharynx
- Disease associated with other risk factors- poor colostrum, stress, weather, acidosis, PGE, etc
- Tx- LA oxytet, amoxicillin
Controlled- vaccination (primary course from 3wo, booster pre-lambing
- What pathogen causes systemic pasturellosis?
- When can it cause sudden death?
- What can cause it?
- How can it be treated and controlled?
- Biebersteinia trehalosi- normal inhabitant of URT
- Sudden death approx 6-10 mo lambs
- Change in grazing, change of weather, concurrent disease
- Tx- LA oxytet, vaccination, control risk factors
- What is clostridial disease often associated with?
- Describe the pathogenesis
- How is it diagnosed and prevented?
- Poor hygiene, injury trauma, insult, wounds, endoparasites, changes in diets
- Anaerobic micro-environments in tissues lead to organisms multipling rapidly and produce toxins- animal usually dies rapidly
- Dx- history and PM, prevention- vaccination and hygiene
Ubiquitous in environment
What kind of pathogens are clostridial diseases?
How are they grouped?
Anaerobic gram positive rods
Grouped according to organ systems:
* enterotoxaemia
* parenchymatous organs (liver and kidney)
* myonecrosis and toxaemia,
* Neurotropic
- What can cause enterotoaemic/parenchymatous organs?
- What do the following different clostridial species cause?
- Cl perfringens
- Cl novyi
- Cl septicum
- Cl sordelli
- Dietary change and over consumption concentrate feed
- Cl perfringens- B-lamb enterotoxaemia dysentry, C- struck enterotoxaemia, D-pulpy kidney nephrotoxicity
- Cl novyi- (B black disease hepatotoxic (with fluke))
- Cl septicum- braxy- sudden death (abdominal pain)
- Cl sordelli- abomastitis
What causes clostridial disease myonecrosis and toxaemia?
Contamination of wounds
* Lambing, castration/tail docking, injections, fighting injuries
What different species of clostridia cause the following?
1. Black leg
2. Big head
3. Malignant oedema
How is it controlled?
- Cl chauvoei
- Cl novyi A
- Cl septicum
Vaccination and good hygiene
- What species of clostridia causes botulism?
- Where does it come from?
- What does it cause?
- Cl botulinum C
- Pasture contaiminated poultry manure
- Flaccid paralysis and death
What species of clostridia causes tetanus?
How is it caught?
What does it cause?
Cl tetani
Wounds- docking, castration
Spastic paralysis
PTS
- What causes lamb dysentery
- What age of lambs are affected?
- What can lead to an outbreak?
- What are the risk factors?
- How does it present?
- How is it diagnosed?
- Clostridum perfringens type B
- Lambs under 3 weeks old
- Unvaccinated flocks, missed ewe or lack of colostrum
- Over crowding and hygiene
- Severe abdominal pain, blood diarrhoea
- Dx- haemorrhagic enteritis, blood stained fluid in body cavity and pericardium, ELISA for toxins/culture
- What causes pulpy kidney?
- What age of lambs are affected?
- What can increase the risk?
- What are the clinical signs?
- What are the PM changes?
- C perfringens type D- most common
- 4-10 weeks or finishing lambs 6 mo+
- High levels of concentrate feed
- May see ataxia, opisthotonus, sudden death
- PM changes- changes to kidneys, blood stained fluid body cavity, ELISA for toxins, culture