DISEASES OF SHEEP

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14091, 24 March 1939, Page 3

DISEASES OF SHEEP

DISSECT 3 ON AND EXPLANATION DEMONSTRATION BY MR. E. E. ELPHICK. At the. Young Farmers’ Club field day on Wednesday, a sick sheep, supplied by Mr A. Hancock, of Baliance, was killed and dissected by Mr E. E. Elphiek, M.R.C.V.S., of the Department of Agriculture, Palmerston North, who described the functions of each organ in turn and indicated the diseases that might attack it. Mr Elphiek began by assuring his listeners that there was little possibility of finding tuberculosis—there had been only three cases of this in sheep in the last 50 years, during which time it had been constantly looked for at freezing works.

Mr Elphiek first pointed out .the enlarged joints at hocks and knees, due to an arthritic condition. This arthritis usually followed contamination at birth or at docking or tailing, and its cause was held by some to be pre-natal. The only cure for it was killing, although if a lamb had only one leg affected it was quite fit for human consumption, and shou]d be killed for home use. A similar condition frequently met with in lambs was a stiffness, without any specific joint trouble. If these were kept moving this usually cleared up within a fortnight. Removing the entrails, he drew attention to two small hydatid cysts on the intestine, and urged the danger of letting a dog eat uncooked entrails where these might be present, resulting in the hatching of the eggs and the transmission of the worm.

Dissecting the stomach, he explained liow the first large stomach contained semi-masticated food, which was thrown up to the mouth and chewed as cud, going next to the second ‘honeycomb’’ lined stomach, which contained perfectly masticated food. The third, consisting of parallel compartments, had its contents almost dry, and many farmers thought that the death of sheep was caused by the contents of this stomach being packed and dry. Actually this was quite a natural condition, the function of this oi-gan being to press and squeeze the food dry, and no actual digestion took place there. The fourth stomach, an elongated one, was the most important, and was the tme digestive stomach; it was there that the most damage was done by parasites. The contents were liquid.,' and if heavily infected with parasites the lining would be inflamed. and the parasites should be clearly visible upon it. If a man’s hoggets were dying, he should make a dissection to see if there were any parasites present in the fourth stomach.

Mi- Elphiek next took the pancreas, usually found attached to the stomach or liver. He outlined its influence on sugar metabolism, and remarked that this was the gland whence insulin was extracted for the treatment of diabetes' in human beings- , ...

He then took the large intestine, colon and caecum (correspondent to the human appendix, but much larger and with a useful function in the storing of food). These, together with the small intestine. were a common place to find parasites. The liver should be examined for hydatid infections in the form of small spots, and lie pointed out two indications of a minor attack on the liver exhibited. There was, however, no reason why hydatid liver, if properly cooked to kill the hydatids, should not be given to dogs. If this were in Hawke’s Bay. be added, the liver would be examined for the fluke parasite. This was a small organ- v ism like the fluke of an anchor in shape, and was occasionally found even in this district: If there was an outbreak of facial eczema, this organ was the place to look for it. The main signs were here —facial eczema was a misnomer, the soreness and broken skin on the face being only a. symptom of the liver condition. It was caused by the ducts in the liver becoming blocked and inflamed, so that the bile could not get out, and was reabsorbed into the tissues. When strong sunlight came on these tissues it caused the broken skin and soreness. This liver condition was ■caused by a body found in fresh growth of grass after a dry spell, but its exact nature was not yet known. Facial eczema could be induced artificially by ligaturing the bile duct. . In the lungs Mr Elphiek discovered traces of another small hydatid cyst, and said it was advisable to look for evidence of lobular pneumonia, in which little portions of the lung became hard, and no air could get in, so that a. piece would sink in water instead of floating. The white patches, he pointed out, w-ere recovery patches from this disease. There was no trace of any old pleurisy, in which the lungs adhered to the ribs—in this case the lining of the chest was quite clean. Commenting on the kidneys, Mr Elphiek said that sometimes a lamb would' move painfully as if it had a broken back. This was due to all abscess on the kidneys, and when dissected they would be found 'to bo full of pus. In the case of the , sheep being dissected, the kidneys should have been bigger, the small : size being probably due to nephritis from some long-standing kidney trouble?.' This, in conjunction with the joint < trouble and pneumonia, had pdlhabfv been the cause of the .poustapt sickness and poor condition of the sheep.