Up to 30 per cent of ewes affected

Press, 29 August 1980, Page 15

Up to 30 per cent of ewes affected

Twe n t y-eight farms were being investigated as part of the survey of abortion in sheep in MidCanterbury, Mr R. C. Gumbrell, veterinary investigation officer of the Ministry of Agriculture’s animal health laboratory at Lincoln, said in his latest report on the investigation.

Twenty-five of these properties have Campylobacter (vibrio) abortion and the highest incidence has been on a farm at Hinds, where 12.6 per cent of the ewes have been affected. The incidence has varied from less than 2 per cent to 12.6 per cent. Seven farms have had over 5 per

cent of their ewes aborting.

Farmers in the Ashburton County, who have about 20 ewes aborting (slipping), are asked to contact the Ashburton office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (telephone 83-079). This will allow Ministry staff to obtain details of the losses and to possibly submit samples from aborted lambs for testing at the Lincoln Animal Health Laboratory. About half the affected farms have started lambing and their losses are likely to decrease with many more live lambs being born as they move into lambing. However, some of the later lambing

farms are just starting to have their first abortions, so the district losses are likely to continue for several weeks.

Abortion losses due to Campylobacter infection continue in other areas, notably the Malvern and Waimate counties. Some ewe flocks report abortions in up to 30 per cent of their ewes.

The Ministry hopes to assess the importance of this infectious disease in the Ashburton County and other areas. This will help determine the importance of control such as vaccination, for this disease, which appears to be causing greater losses over the past few years.