 |
| Salivation |
 |
| Facial paralysis |
 |
| Circling/lack of cordination |
Listeriosis also known as circling disease is an important infectious disease of sheep and goats most commonly causing encephalitis(brain damage) but also capable of causing a blood infection and abortion.
Listeriosis is caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes and is commonly seen in temprate climates.
CAUSES/TRANSMISSION
These bacteria can be found in the soil, food sources, and even the feces of healthy animals. This disease of sheep and goats is observed as a result of:
1. Feeding moldy or spoiled hay or silage.
Silage not properly fermented (not acidified)
Round bales of hay that have started to rot
2. Feed bunks that are not cleaned regularly and in which some feces and wet feed leftover accumulate and ferment
3. Rotting (decaying) woody debris
4.Manure
5.Milk, urine, and drainage of the eyes and nose of infected animals.
6. Environmental and fecal contamination are more common sources of the disease than silage in sheep and goats because most are never fed silage.
SYMPTOMS
• Depression
• Loss of appetite
• Fever • Lack of coordination
• Salivation • Facial paralysis
• Circling.
Disease is more common in animals between 1 to 3 years of age than it is in older animals. The abortion form of Listeriosis usually shows no other symptoms and can only be diagnosed by lab analysis.
The onset of the encephalitic form is usually very fast and causes death in 24 to 48 hours after symptoms appear. Symptoms include circling in one direction, high fever, lack of appetite, red tissues around the eyes, usually with blindness, and depression. Affected animals may have a droopy ear, drooping eyelid, and saliva running from limp lips on one side of the face caused by a partial paralysis. When near death, the animal will lie down and may have convulsions. A diagnosis can only be confirmed in a diagnostic laboratory but isolation of the organism can be difficult.
TREATMENT
Recovery: Recovery depends primarily on early intervention with high doses of antibiotics. In cases of severe encephalitis, death may occur despite antibiotic treatment
There are no effective treatments for small ruminants, and they usually die after infection. Large doses of Oxytetracycline or Penicillin G may help in some cases.
PREVENTION
1. Newly introduced animals should be considered suspect as carriers and be quarantined
2. Infected animals should be isolated from the rest of the herd or flock
3. Floors, pens, sheds, feed bunks, mineral feeders, etc. should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
4. If several animals are affected and silage or round bales of hay are being fed, their use should be discontinued until they can be ruled out as a source of contamination.
Caution:
Dispose dead animals via burning.
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