Ovine brucellosis Louise Mullemeister Senior Veterinary Officer - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Ovine brucellosis

Louise Mullemeister Senior Veterinary Officer Biosecurity Queensland Roma

Brucellosis

Species Host Presence Brucella ovis Sheep Occurs in Australia Brucella suis* Pigs Occurs in Australia Brucella abortus* Cattle Exotic Brucella melitensis* Goats Exotic Brucella canis* Dogs Exotic

*Potentially zoonotic

Ovine brucellosis

• Reduced semen quality & increased ram

turnover

• Poor conception rates
• Reduced lamb marking percentage
• Extended lambing period

– Pasture management & supplementation – Metabolic disorders & mismothering – Wool length & quality – Lamb weights & condition scores

• Abortions (uncommon)

Economic impact

• Ram to ram

– Indirectly via ewe

• Passive venereal transmission

– Directly

• Sodomy
• Licking prepuce
• Ram to ewe (uncommon)

Transmission

Reproductive anatomy

Reproductive anatomy

Symptoms

Symptoms

 Not all rams infected with ovine brucellosis will have palpable abnormalities.  Not all palpable abnormalities are due to ovine brucellosis.

• Complement fixation test (CFT)
• Semen culture
• Post mortem & culture of reproductive organs

Diagnosis

• Not a notifiable disease in Qld
• No regulatory control
• No enforced eradication/control program
• Voluntary Ovine Brucellosis Accreditation

Scheme

– Flock & property biosecurity measures – Clinical examination & testing regime

Control/eradication

With regards to the Ovine Brucellosis Accreditation Scheme, who:

• Has an accredited flock
• Only buys rams from an accredited flock
• Isn’t accredited & doesn’t buy from accredited

flocks?

Poll

Eradication

• Culling & replacing entire ram flock
• Identifying, testing & culling infected animals
• Combination of control & eradication programs

Control

• Using additional rams at joining
• Manual palpation of rams prior to joining
• Extending joining period
• Regular turn-over of rams
• Weaning prior to joining

Control/eradication

Program considerations:

• Sheep-proof fencing
• Clean musters
• Individual identification of rams
• Prompt removal of infected rams
• Avoid joining period
• Consistent testing intervals
• Test straying animals
• Buy rams from accredited flocks/tested prior to entry

Seek veterinary advice first Eradication

Flock & property biosecurity

• Sheep proof fences
• Livestock records
• Isolation from unknown, unaccredited, infected

sheep

• Management of straying sheep
• Source sheep from OB accredited flocks
• Isolate & test introduced sheep

Prevention

Questions?

Slide 1: http://www.nzva.org.nz Slide 3: http://dpi.nsw.gov.au; http://australiandorper.com.au; http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au; http://www.whitesuffolk.com.au Slide 6, 7, 8 & 9: http://dpi.nsw.gov.au Slide 10 & 11: http://fao.org; http://flockandherd.net.au Slide 13: http://sheepconnectsa.com.au Slide 14: http://oie.int

Image references