May be inheritance factor

Press, 24 October 1980, Page 16

May be inheritance factor

Regular vaccination, combined with a concerted selection policy, would help reduce the incidence of footrot in many New Zealand flocks. Dr T. M. Skerman, of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Wallaceville research station, told North Canterbury Federated Farmers last week.

Speaking to members of the provincial meat and wool executive, Dr Skerman said he had been examining the disease in several flocks in the North Island for nearly three years. The research had revealed several interesting factors, all of which needed, and Would receive, further investigation. He said the traditional methods of dealing with

footrot — foot paring and foot bathing with formalin — were laborious and ineffective. Running sheep through a foot trough was satisfactory as a preventitive measure, but this broke down at times when sheep were not available because of lambing or tupping.

The trials had shown that vaccinated sheep had contracted footrot to a far lesser degree than sheep in the control flock.

In both the Romney and Corriedale flocks examined there was a marked difference in the incidence of footrot between the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups. Dr Skerman said he did not have total faith in the vaccine. It was not quite potent enough and ways of improving the vaccine were being examined. Close records kept of every' sheep involved in the experimental flocks revealed that to a degree

the trouble might be inherited. In the control flocks, which were unvaccinated, some sheep never contracted the disease, in spite of its high incidence rates, over the 2 {-year period.

Dr Skerman said he and his staff had started to assemble information on the genetic factors affecting footrot. All types of feet defects would be examined and the transference of problems to progeny monitored. he said. It could mean farmers would be able to selectively eliminate susceptible stock from their flocks and this would go a long way to eliminating the disease from many flocks. Meanwhile vaccination, with a booster shot during the , year,- and troughing in five to 10 per cent formalin, would act as a satisfactory control measure, Dr Skerman said.