THE LIVER FLUKE OF SHEEP.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1163, 15 June 1894, Page 4

THE LIVER FLUKE OF SHEEP.

Discussing the above subject an American writer says:—The most destructive disease of sheep is that known as the liver rot, or the fluke. It has at times almost ruined the English sheep farmers, several millions of sheep and lambs being carried off by the pest in a single year, and the supplies of the largest market in the world, that of Smithfield in London, having been reduced to the extent of Qve thousand head daily for the whole year. It has more than decimated the flocks of Australia, and no country seems to be free from its hateful presence. Egypt, with its hot climate and its water-soaked fields, suffers more than any other part of the world, and wherever swamps or wet soil are found, there this pest flourishes, and the flocks decay. It is called liver rot because this organ is the seat of the disease, and after the death of the animal it is soft and rotten, being easily crumbled by the fingers. Every part of the animal is yellow, by reason of the presence of the bile in the blood, and the gall bladder is found filled with the worms or flukes, while they are enormously encysted in the substance of the liver. The life history of the fluke gives us the whole story of the nature and course of the disease in the flock. The liver fluke belongs to the clasß of Entozoa, and to the division of it known as Trematoda or perforated worms. It has been called a fluke from its fiat shape; its scientific name is Distoma hepatica. There are a great many species, and each one has its special host, mankind being included in the list of its victims. It is found in the ox, the deer, dog, fox, rabbit, goat, elk, reindeer, zebu, antelope, and in the shepherd himself ; but the sheep is the most infested of all animals. It is at first a parasite of a snail, an amphibious species known as Limncea truncatula, which inhabits a small, twisted shell half an inch long, or lives free in the water in the immature form of a tailed, round body, much like a tadpole. The infested mollusk leaves the water at times, and attaches itself to the stents of grass, in which condition it is taken into the sheep's stomach, or it is swallowed in the water in which it wriggles on the banks of streams or ponds, or in the puddles in marshes. It is rarely found in high, dry ground, and it is mostly the sheep that pasture in low lands, or drink from slow-moving or dead water, that are subject to the disease. But they are never found in salt or brackish water; hence those flocks, like the Romney Marsh of the seaside meadows of England, are not troubled by them. And thus, too, salt freely given has been found a preventive to some deg-ee. The worm having gained access to the sheep, or the egg* of it being swallowed, finds its way to the gall ducts of the liver, and there encysts itself, and attains maturity, producing eggs which, dropped on the grass by the sheep, get in some way into the water and begin the natural course of life once more. The infested sheep at first begin to get fat—possibly by the stimulated action of the liver—but the fat is yellow from the excess of bile in the blood. Soon, however, the animal shows a noticeable dullness, and the visible membranes become pale, except the white of the eye, which appears yellow like that of a jaundiced person. In warm and damp weather the stricken sheep may die rapidly and suddenly without warning, from a' fever and poisoning of the blood. Otherwise they shrink, swell under the throat, become drawn about the nose, and have that woebegone apperance so well known to the experienced shepherd. The wool loosens and drops off, or is easily torn from the skin, and hangs in

loose patches, then it hides itself, at death approaches, and is found swollen and decomposed, or it lingers miserably and staggers about; has a stinking diarrhoea; a fetid discharge runs from the nostrils; the eyes are red; and death ends the creature's misery. Examination shows the liver to be so degenerated as to drop apart at a touch, the llesh is pale, the abdomen is filled with yellow serum, the heart is soft and pale, and the whole internal organs are diseased. Fortunately there is a remedy and measurable prevention of this disease. To give salt, with one-tenth part of sulphate of iron mixed with it. in doses of a teaspoonful daily, and to drain the pastures or fence off the stagnant ponds or muddy streams, and supply the animals with pure well water, will save the flock. But if the disease has appeared, or from the nature of the range, prevention cannot be afforded, the following treatment will act as a continuous remedy and destroy the parasites before they have become fixed in their final resting places. Take saltpetre six ounces, ginger ground four ounces, carbonate of iron two ounces, and salt three and one-half pounds. Powder the ingredients, and dissolve them in three gallonsof water. Then add for each quart three ounces of turpentine. The liquid is bottled and is thoroughly shaken into an emulsion before it is used. The infested sheep are kept fasting for twelve hours, and then each one is given two ounces of the preparation. No food is given for three hours after. This is done three times in four-days intervals. By that time the turpentine will have been fully absorbed into the system, and the tonic have stimulated the liver r so as to destroy the immature parasites. It is useful to keep this medicine on hand, with a measure for giving it, and where there is danger this will avert it. As with all other parasites, the constant use of the right remedies will in time remove' them from their haunts and exterminate them.