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Ovine infectious keratoconjunctivitis in sheep: the farmer's perspective.
- Source :
-
Veterinary record open [Vet Rec Open] 2019 Oct 08; Vol. 6 (1), pp. e000321. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Oct 08 (Print Publication: 2019). - Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- The objective of this study was to gather current, farmer-reported data on the frequency of occurrence, risk factors and treatment practices for the sheep eye disease, ovine infectious keratoconjunctivitis (OIKC). A questionnaire regarding eye disease in sheep was completed by 135 farmers from four livestock markets. Most farmers (87%) had observed OIKC in their flock, 88% of these within the last 2 years. Farmers reported observing most cases in the winter months (51%) and fewest in the summer (10%). They proposed housing and forage feeding from racks as factors associated with OIKC. A variety of treatment protocols were used by farmers. The three most popular treatments used were: cloxacillin eye ointment, intramuscular oxytetracycline injection and topical tetracycline spray applied to the eye. Only 62% of treatments were considered very effective by the farmers, with no difference in farmer perceived efficacy between these three most commonly used treatments (p=0.6). Farmers used 15 different terms to describe a photograph of a sheep with OIKC, including many colloquial terms. We hypothesise that this could result in communication problems between veterinary surgeons and farmers.<br />Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.<br /> (© British Veterinary Association 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2052-6113
- Volume :
- 6
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Veterinary record open
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 31673374
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1136/vetreco-2018-000321