By Dr Pat Kluver, Livestock Biosecurity Network regional manager
Recent outbreaks of footrot in areas that have been thought to be free for over 20 years, is a timely warning to be vigilant and make biosecurity part of the way you run your business.
Footrot is caused by a specific footrot bacteria and can range from benign footrot (often called scold), which presents as mild lameness with a little reddening between the toes, to virulent footrot (often referred to as just ‘footrot’) which can cause severe, production-limiting lameness and under running of the sole of the foot. Wet warm environments allow footrot to express and spread.
The most important thing to remember is that sheep are infected with footrot- not farms. Footrot can be eradicated and, importantly, you can prevent it by taking a few simple precautions when purchasing sheep.
Precautions against footrot
- Ensure boundary fences are sheep proof, and if not, try to ensure a buffer between your neighbour’s sheep and yours with cattle or crops if suitable. By far the greatest risk to your sheep are incoming sheep – either purchased in or under the fence from a next door neighbour so talk to your neighbours about what you want done with your sheep if they stray and vice versa. An agreed “strays policy” is essential if you want to control the risks associated with sheep leaving or entering your property.
- When purchasing sheep try to buy direct if possible. This minimises the chance of picking up disease in the saleyards.
- Insist on a Sheep Health Statement and read it before you make a purchasing decision. It does not guarantee that sheep will be free of footrot, but it is a legally enforceable declaration on the disease status of the sheep.
- When purchasing sheep, always inspect for footrot. Any evidence of the disease should be looked at by an experienced sheep vet or stock inspector. If diagnosed, footrot is still a notifiable disease in most states.
- Identifying problems before you purchase can save you time and money. If you can’t inspect sheep on-farm or at the saleyards, it is essential that they be looked at when they arrive on your property.
- Once on-farm, you should get a quarantine drench of four different actives and a fluke drench if they have come from a fluke area. For footrot, all sheep should be run through a footbath on arrival made up of 10% zinc sulphate. This won’t eliminate virulent footrot but will remove footrot bacteria picked up in the saleyards or in the truck.