Living with parasites: exploiting tolerance of infection to reduce the impact of gastrointestinal nematodes in sheep

There are two broad strategies that a host may use to manage the impacts of infection. The first, and more familiar, is resistance, which is the ability of the host to prevent infection or reduce...

Examination of rams for breeding

Examination of each ram should be carried out and the findings should be recorded. The Sheep Vet Society (SVS) provides a useful template ‘Pre-breeding examination on farm data collection form’ (SVS...

Update on liver fluke in sheep and cattle

The liver fluke life cycle takes around 20 weeks to complete and requires a snail intermediate host (Figure 1). Mature flukes (Figure 2) reside in the liver of the definitive host. Fluke eggs are...

How to: ovine clinical examination update

Personal protective equipment is required; typically consisting of disinfectable wellington boots (with the option of steel toe capped variants available), waterproof trousers and top (the author...

Sheep-associated malignant catarrhal fever in cattle: an update

Mature herpes virions vary from 120–260 nm in size. The core of the virion comprises double-stranded DNA held inside a 115–130 nm icosahedral capsid. The nucleocapsid is surrounded by a dense...

Large animal dermatology: common cases

It is June in North Somerset and the NADIS (2023) forecast shows a high risk for period for myiasis. A client with a flock of 60 Poll Dorset ewes has called because one of the rams has a large area of...

Plan, prevent, protect: optimal sheep vaccination

The decision to vaccinate sheep is primarily motivated by animal welfare and the wish to optimise health by giving sheep the best chance to be free from avoidable disease. If optimum protection from...

Parasiticides: perspectives and prospects

The introduction of relatively more efficacious and safe parasite treatments can conveniently be traced from the early 1960s, though many of the older treatments were still in use at this time. A book...

Diagnostic testing in small ruminant medicine

The field of diagnostics, like many others, is fast evolving and many exciting new technologies have arisen in the last few years, which will help to overcome some of the challenges within small...

Trace elements in sheep: history taking

When presented with a clinical scenario, a standard clinical history needs to be taken. This should include the following:.

How to: ovine clinical examination

Personal protective equipment is required; typically consisting of disinfectable wellington boots (with the option of steel toe capped variants available), waterproof trousers and top (the author...

Ovine Caesarean sections and assisted vaginal deliveries: a clinical audit

Data from 209 procedures and the associated postoperative checks were recorded through the survey, with the following splits between location, time and intervention required (Figure 1)..

Impact of phyto-oestrogens on reproductive health of sheep

Phyto-oestrogens are all non-steroidal compounds that can bind to oestrogen receptors. The compounds found in plants of agricultural and veterinary importance include isoflavones and coumestans. The...

Ovine Johne's disease

The two main groups of MAP strains are ‘type S’ and ‘type C’, named after the host species from which they were originally isolated, sheep and cattle respectively (Collins et al, 1990). This...

Changing patterns of Nematodirus battus infection

During the summer and autumn 2021, the FECs of lambs in a hill flock of about 500 ewes in the south-east of Scotland were monitored using a saturated saline and cuvette method with a detection...