How to Treat Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Sheep? Detailed Explanation of Symptoms and Transmission Routes

Foot-and-mouth disease in sheep is commonly known among farmers as mouth sores, hoof rot, and similar names. It is an acute, febrile, highly contagious disease caused by the foot-and-mouth disease virus and shared by cloven-hoofed animals. Both goats and sheep can contract this disease, and it can sometimes be transmitted to humans. So how do you treat foot-and-mouth disease in sheep? What are the symptoms and transmission routes?

I. Symptoms

The incubation period of the disease in sheep and goats is 1 to 7 days, averaging 2 to 4 days. The main symptoms are elevated body temperature, complete loss of appetite, listlessness, and lameness. Blisters in the mouth mostly occur on the oral mucosa, and blisters on the tongue are rarely seen. Oral lesions are more common in goats than in sheep, with blisters mostly occurring on the hard palate and the surface of the tongue. Ewes often miscarry. The blisters on the hooves are small and not as obvious as in cattle.

II. Transmission Routes

The main source of infection for foot-and-mouth disease in sheep is diseased livestock, followed by virus-carrying wild animals (such as Mongolian gazelles). It is mainly transmitted through the digestive tract and respiratory tract, and can also be transmitted through the conjunctiva of the eye, nasal mucosa, teats, and skin wounds. If humans or healthy sheep come into contact with the saliva, blister fluid, or milk of diseased animals, they may all become infected and develop the disease. Dogs, cats, rats, blood-sucking insects, and people's clothing and shoes can also spread this disease. In dairy goats, lesions on the teats and a decrease in milk yield can sometimes be seen. Suckling lambs are particularly susceptible to the disease, mostly developing hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. Malignant foot-and-mouth disease may also occur, with death due to acute cardiac paralysis, and the mortality rate can reach 20 to 50%.

III. Treatment Methods

1. Strengthen care for sick sheep

First of all, strengthen care for sick sheep. For example, the pen and shed should be dry and well ventilated, soft feed (such as green grass, noodle soup, rice soup, etc.) and clean drinking water should be provided, and the pen and shed should be disinfected regularly;

2. Disinfection of wounds

For oral lesions, wash the mouth with 0.1 to 0.2% potassium permanganate, 0.2% formalin, 2 to 3% alum, or 2% to 3% acetic acid, then apply iodine glycerin or 1 to 3% copper sulfate to the ulcerated surface, or sprinkle on Bingpeng San. For hoof lesions, soak the hooves in 3% creolin, 3% cresol soap solution, 1% formalin, or 3% to 5% copper sulfate. Disinfectant ointment or 10% iodine tincture can also be applied, and then wrapped with a bandage. It is best not to wash the hooves too much, because moisture can hinder healing. For udder lesions, milk should be squeezed carefully, the teats washed with 2 to 3% boric acid water, and then a disinfectant ointment applied;

3. Injection of antibiotics

For malignant foot-and-mouth disease in sheep, special attention should be paid to maintaining cardiac function, and cardiotonic agents and glucose injection should be used promptly. To prevent and treat secondary infections, penicillin can also be injected intramuscularly, and crystalline camphor can be given orally, 1 gram each time, 2 times a day. The results are good, and it also has the effect of preventing progression to malignant foot-and-mouth disease.

IV. Preventive Measures

1. Strengthen quarantine

Disease-free areas are strictly prohibited from introducing animals, animal products, feed, biological products, etc. from diseased countries or regions. Animals and their products from disease-free areas should also be quarantined. When positive animals are detected, the entire herd of animals should be destroyed and disposed of, and vehicles, animal waste, and other contaminated items should be disinfected on the spot;

2. Strict disinfection

Once an outbreak occurs in a foot-and-mouth disease-free area, decisive measures should be taken. All diseased animals and animals in the same group should be culled and destroyed, and the contaminated environment should be strictly and thoroughly disinfected;

3. Vaccination

In foot-and-mouth disease-endemic areas, immunization should be maintained. Animals should be vaccinated with attenuated or inactivated foot-and-mouth disease vaccines of the same type as the locally prevalent virus strain. Because attenuated vaccines for cattle and sheep may cause disease in pigs and have poor safety, inactivated foot-and-mouth disease vaccines have now been adopted instead;

4. Report the outbreak promptly

When foot-and-mouth disease occurs in an animal herd, the outbreak should be reported immediately, the diagnosis confirmed, the epidemic point, epidemic area, and threatened area delineated, isolation and blockade measures implemented, and emergency immunization carried out for animals that have not yet developed the disease in the epidemic area and threatened area.

The above is Tuliuwang's introduction to the transmission routes, preventive measures, and treatment methods of foot-and-mouth disease in sheep. Everyone must pay attention to discovering and reporting outbreaks promptly.