Farmers encouraged to vaccinate against abortion at NSA NI meeting

17th September 2012

One in every five lambs potential lambs is lost due to abortion, Bosco Cowley told a NSA meeting in Omagh, Northern Ireland, on 11th September.

 

Mr Cowley, a vet advisor for MSD Animal Health, said: “The majority of lamb losses are due to preventable causes, in particular due to sheep abortion. Running that ewe for a year to produce nothing but a fleece guarantees a large loss on your investment.

 

“A practical flock health plan plays a key role in the success of any sheep enterprise because so many losses are preventable. Enzootic abortion and toxoplasmosis are responsible for about 75% of all abortions, so a correct diagnosis is vital in order to select and use the most appropriate vaccines to protect flock health and profitability.

 

 “Now is the time to act to maximise your lamb crop next spring with fewer abortions and fewer weakly lambs. The only truly cost-effective way to control losses associated with toxoplasmosis is through vaccination at least three weeks before ewes are introduced to the ram for breeding.

 

“Toxovax is unique in being the only vaccine available for this condition.  It protects ewes against toxoplasmosis at all stages of pregnancy, hence reducing the barren rate, abortion rate and numbers of weak lambs seen when toxoplasmosis occurs in flocks.”

 

Moving on to enzootic abortion, Mr Cowley urged farmers to speak to their vet about this, as it could be a very big problem from one season to the next, due to ewes becoming infected at lambing time but showing no outward sign of infection until they abort the following year.

 

He said a small number of aborting ewes in one season could infect a large number of ewes in the lambing shed, leading to significant abortion storms the following season.  Where possible, maintaining a closed flock and keeping home-bred replacement ewes maximised biosecurity and reduced the risk of enzootic abortion being introduced to the flock. Vaccination could also play a pivotal role, and needed to be administered at least four weeks before tupping.

 

Explaining that MSD Animal Health’s enzootic and toxoplasmosis vaccines could be administered at the same time, he said: “Plan now to minimise disease by putting in a place a flock health regime that includes abortion prevention with the aid of Toxovax and Enzovax vaccines if deemed necessary by your veterinary surgeon. “These two vaccines can be given at the same time and their overall cost is but a tiny fraction of the true costs of ‘ghost lambs’ that never appear in your flock due to abortion.”