Prevalence of lung abscesses and interstitial pneumonia in ovine oestrosis
Dorchies, P.; Yilma, J.M.; Savey, J.
Veterinary Record 133(13): 325
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 0042-4900 PMID: 8236672 Document Number: 416843
Half a flock of 400 ewes and rams in south west France were chosen at random and drenched twice with 10 mg/kg of closantel (Seponver L. A.) once in July and again in September; the others served as untreated controls. To assess the efficacy of closantel 16 of the treated and 14 of the control ewes, which had been grazed together, were slaughtered 60, 101 or 169 days after the second treatment and examined for Oestrus ovis larvae and for lung lesions including abscesses. No living larvae were recovered from the treated animals but many O. ovis larvae were present in the untreated controls. Lung lesion scores were not significantly different in the 2 groups despite considerable clinical improvements in the treated animals. Interstitial pneumonia was the most common lesion in both groups. The prevalence of lung abscesses was significantly reduced in the treated group (31% vs 78% in the controls). It is suggested that ovine oestrosis should be controlled more carefully to prevent secondary effects of the infection.