What Are the Most Common Diseases of Sheep? Everything You Need to Know in One Article

1. Sheep anthrax. Sheep anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by Bacillus anthracis that is shared between humans and animals. Affected sheep show brief running and a few jumps, then sway and fall to the ground, with the head tilted backward and the limbs making involuntary swimming motions, and die after a few minutes. The disease has the highest incidence from May to September. An anthrax preventive injection can be given once in spring and autumn; in areas where anthrax has occurred, give a preventive injection once a year, injecting 0.5 ml of anthrax spore vaccine subcutaneously into the neck of each sheep, which provides immunity for one year.

2. Sheep enterotoxemia. Sheep enterotoxemia manifests as a sudden onset; before falling dead, the limbs make violent paddling movements, the muscles tremble, the eyeballs roll, the teeth grind, there is excessive salivation, and afterward the head and neck twitch markedly, with death usually occurring within 2-4 hours. Treatment: (1) Use sulfaguanidine 18-20 g, administered by drench once on the first day, and divided into 2 doses on the second day, until recovery. (2) A 10% lime solution can be administered by drench, 200 ml per adult sheep and 50-80 ml per lamb.

3. Lamb dysentery. Lamb dysentery manifests as diarrhea in lambs. The feces are foul-smelling, sometimes as thick as paste, sometimes as thin as water, and in the later stage contain blood, with death often occurring in 1-2 days. Treatment: (1) Oxytetracycline 0.2-0.3 g, or with the addition of pepsin 0.2-0.3 g, mixed with water and administered by drench, 2 times a day; (2) Treatment can be carried out with anti-lamb dysentery hyperimmune serum, injected intramuscularly at 0.5-1.0 ml.

4. Sheep liver fluke disease. In the acute form, affected sheep show listlessness, elevated body temperature, loss of appetite, and occasional diarrhea. Severe anemia, increased abdominal circumference, filled with a large amount of ascites, and death often occurs within 3-5 days. In the chronic form, affected sheep show a relatively long course of disease, with anemia, emaciation, alternating constipation and diarrhea, rough and lusterless coat, and death from exhaustion. Treatment: (1) Use bithionol at 0.08-0.1 g per kg of body weight, prepared as a suspension and given orally once; (2) Use niclofolan at 3-5 ml per kg of body weight, given orally once. Prevention: Regular deworming, deworming once each in spring and autumn.

5. Sheep mite disease. Two types parasitize the body surface of sheep: sarcoptic mites and psoroptic mites. Sarcoptic mites mostly parasitize the lips, nose, area around the eyes, ears, head, inner side of the legs, and tail base of sheep. Psoroptic mites mostly occur on the densely haired rump and back, and then spread to the whole body. This is a relatively common sheep disease and causes great harm to sheep production. Treatment and prevention: A 0.25% solution of acaricide can be used for medicated bathing, once each in spring and autumn every year.