Prevention and control of ovine abortion: test, don't guess

摘要

Losses occurring from infectious causes of abortion in sheep can be devastating for farmers due to the economic and welfare impacts associated with the diseases. It is vital that you make best use of the diagnostics available to understand more aboutthe problem you are dealing with and to develop an appropriate treatment and disease-prevention plan. The economic losses associated with abortion can be significant and a recent paper looking at the impact of enzootic abortion of ewes (EAE), one of theleading causes of infectious abortion, reported that losses can be as high as 26% of a flock (Carson and Reichel, Veterinary Record, 2019). Such losses have resulted in some farmers deciding to stop breeding sheep, although they are often unaware of theoptions open to them to help in the treatment or control of infections and the associated cost-benefit of applying such options. Thus, it is important to maximise current available knowledge on the causes of disease and work with their vets to develop and apply appropriate health planning and preventive measures. It has been reported that the average cost of losing a neonatal lamb is around ￡25, whereas the cost of vaccination is approximately ￡2.40 per ewe (Carson and Reichel, Veterinary Record 2019), illustrating the significant cost benefit of applying appropriate disease-prevention strategies, as well as providing clear welfare benefits for the animals.