How to treat sheep toxemia? Detailed introduction to prevention and control measures

Friends who have experience in sheep farming are certainly familiar with toxemia. It is an infectious disease of sheep caused by Clostridium perfringens type D, one of the Clostridium welchii bacteria, multiplying in large numbers in the sheep intestine and producing endotoxins. This disease mostly occurs in early summer, and the mortality rate is high, which is very detrimental to the growth of a flock of sheep. So how should sheep toxemia be treated? Let's take a look together.

1. Causes of the disease

The pathogen is Clostridium welchii, also known as Clostridium perfringens type D. Ordinary disinfection can easily kill the reproductive form of this bacterium, but the spores have strong resistance and can withstand boiling for 80-90 minutes. This bacterium can cause obvious effects of exotoxin-induced hemolysis, necrosis and death.

2. Symptoms

The symptoms of affected sheep include poor appetite, lying on the ground, clenching the teeth, falling down in a lateral position, rolling side to side, twitching, bending of the neck, difficulty breathing, and foaming at the mouth. Some affected sheep emit painful moans, and generally die within 1-2 hours after onset.

3. Anatomy

Generally, the carcass is in good nutritional condition and rapidly becomes bloated and putrid after death; the intestines are filled with gas and liquid matter, and the abomasum and intestinal mucosa often show acute congestion and hemorrhagic inflammation, hence the name “bloody intestinal disease.” There is systemic lymph node enlargement and congestion, excessive transudate in the chest and abdominal cavity, increased pericardial fluid, which often coagulates. The most abnormal change is congestion on the surface of the kidneys, swelling, and a texture as brittle and soft as mud.

4. Prevention

(1) A flock of sheep should be regularly injected with the sheep triple and quadruple vaccine, and the injection time should be scientifically arranged according to the local epidemic situation. Generally, injections are mostly chosen in March to April in spring and September to October in autumn each year.

(2) Feeding management should be improved. For grazing sheep, in spring and summer, competition for fresh green grass and stubble should be reduced, and in autumn, feeding too much seeded green fodder should be avoided. For housed sheep, exercise and sunlight exposure time should be increased to improve the physical condition of the sheep.

(1) After sheep develop enterotoxemia, for mild cases, inject 15-30 ml of ciprofloxacin injection subcutaneously, and also feed 2 grams of streptomycin, twice a day, for 1-2 days.

In summary, toxemia is an acute toxemia caused by the large-scale reproduction of Clostridium welchii type D in the sheep intestine, which produces endotoxins. Because this disease has an acute onset, farmers must not be careless. They should conscientiously implement all kinds of preventive measures, and at the same time learn to diagnose the causes, so as to improve prevention and management work.