Sheep farmers know about a disease like bradzot. It was first described by a doctor from Norway, Ivar Nielsen in 1888. Since then, toxicoinfection caused by bacteria from the clostridium genus regularly causes significant damage to livestock farms around the world. About what this disease is, and how to deal with it, later in the article.

Bradzot in sheep

Bradsot (Bradsot) - a dangerous transient infectious disease, resulting in the death of goats and sheep. When grazing, strong large animals are more likely to get sick; when kept in stalls, young animals are sick. The disease is more common in individuals older than two years - at this age they already move little and are quite well-fed.

Outbreaks occur more often in the first half of winter and in summer, during the hot, dry months. When the outbreak appears, the disease affects up to 20-30% of the livestock. Mortality among sick sheep reaches 100%.

Find out how many years live sheep and sheep live.

The causative agent of the disease: main characteristics

The causative agent of bradzot is rod-shaped anaerobic spore-forming bacteria Cl. Septicum (Clostridium septicum) and Cl. Oedematiens (Clostridium odematiens), living in soil, standing water, manure.

They also develop in feed when stored improperly. Their spores are found in the intestines and abomasum (glandular stomach).

Causes of the onset of the disease

• Bradzot infection leads to:
• feeding frozen, moldy feed;
• a sharp change in diet (for example, the transfer of sheep from pastures with dead wood to pastures with lush green grass);
• overfeeding;
• the use of contaminated water from natural reservoirs;
• contact with sick animals;
• protein and mineral deficiency;
• helminthiasis;
• weakened immunity.

Did you know? Sheep has excellent peripheral vision - their horizontal slit-like pupils allow us to see what is almost behind them, without turning their heads.

Diagnosis of bradzot and the course of the disease

Symptoms of bradzot are similar to food poisoning and many other dangerous diseases: anthrax, dysentery, pyroplasmosis, etc.

An accurate diagnosis can only be made on the basis of clinical signs, epizootological and pathoanatomical data found after opening the dead animal, additional studies.

Primary symptoms

The primary clinical signs of bradzot include:

• a sharp increase in body temperature of the animal to + 41 ° C;
• decreased appetite;
• uncertain, shaky gait;
• cramps
• intense thirst;
• gnashing of teeth;
• hyperemia;
• conjunctivitis;
• bloody foam released from the oral cavity;
• rapid breathing;
• hemorrhagic (bloody) diarrhea;
• a sharp change in behavior - from apathy and lethargy to excessive activity with jumps and circular movements;
• shortness of breath - due to excessive accumulation of fluid in the chest, submandibular space and neck;
• painful bloating;
• heart palpitations.

We advise you to read: a description of the main diseases of sheep and lambs.

Laboratory Testing: Accurate Diagnostics

In the laboratory, the pathogens are isolated and identified. Material is taken from corpses as quickly as possible (no later than 2–4 hours after death).

Parenchymal organs (liver, spleen), abomasum walls, tubular bones, areas of the duodenum with ligatures, edematous tissue, exudate from the chest and abdominal cavities, subcutaneous tissue infiltrate are sent for research. In hot weather, selected pathological material can be preserved in a solution of glycerol or chloroform.

Smears are prepared from this material, stained according to Gram and Muromtsev, seeded on nutrient media (Kitta-Tarozzi, glucose-blood agar). If bacteria with properties typical of Cl. septicum and Cl. Oedematiens, they are isolated to obtain pure crops.

For accurate identification, special test systems have been developed. Confirmation of infection with bradzot is the detection of threadlike formations in the liver of sheep, grayish foci of necrosis, swollen kidneys, degeneration of parenchymal organs.

Read also about the causes of diarrhea in sheep.

Course of the disease

Bradzot proceeds in lightning and acute (protracted) forms. The incubation period is short - only a few hours.

Normal

Adult animals are more likely to be affected by the protracted form - they refuse to eat, their body temperature rises, pulse and breathing increase, mucus is abundantly released from the mouth and nose, diarrhea with an admixture of blood and tympanum develops, the mucous membranes and conjunctiva become icteric. The periods of excitement, when the sheep jump, are replaced by a sharp apathy. Animals grab food without chewing, keep in their mouths.

Sheep is tormented by periodic cramps, intoxication of the body develops, collapse occurs - the sheep lie on their sides, stretch their limbs, throw their head to one side or to the back, breathing is very difficult due to pulmonary edema. After 3-8 days, a sick animal usually dies.

Transient

With a fulminant form, in the evening, animals that are completely healthy in the morning are dead. This form of bradzot is more common and most dangerous. The death of the animal occurs within 2-8 hours after infection. The sheep falls sharply to the ground, it has tympanum, shortness of breath, redness of the eyes, convulsions.

Methods of control and treatment

If a sheep case or suspicious characteristic symptoms of the disease are found, immediately inform the local veterinarian.

Important! To maintain the cardiological system, cardiac glycosides are administered to relieve tension of the nervous system - soothing (sedative) drugs. They also use drugs that stimulate the removal of toxins from the body.

With a transient form of treatment, there is no. When protracted, antimicrobials (antibiotics) are usually used: Tetracycline, Synthomycin, Terramycin, Biomycin. Adults are injected intramuscularly with 0.5–1 g, lambs - 0.2 g per 1 kg of live weight. “Biovetin” is also used, introducing 0.5-0.75 g per day to the animal.

Against bradzot do not use folk remedies. They simply do not exist.

Ways of spread of infection

The main source of infection is sick animals that infect the environment, the corpses of dead animals, not cleaned immediately after death. A serious factor of damage is infected pastures, especially located in the lowlands of rivers, marshy areas. Contributes to the spread of the disease and the grazing of a large number of sheep in limited pastures with sparse grass stands.

We recommend that you study how to graze sheep correctly: timelines, norms and techniques.

Bradzot Prevention

As a prophylaxis, it is recommended to timely vaccinate, deworm, provide proper nutrition without a sharp change in feed, in the season of the likely occurrence of the disease, sheep should be fed with roughage before grazing.

Vaccination

To prevent the disease, vaccination is carried out in early spring 40–45 days before pasture on the pasture, with a repetition after 30 days. The entire stock of sheep is grafted, starting at 3 months of age, with the exception of malnourished and sick animals.

Immunity to the disease develops 10-15 days after the second vaccination and lasts 4-5 months. If animals fall ill among an unvaccinated livestock, vaccination is carried out at any time. The interval between vaccinations is reduced to two weeks.

Vaccinated animals are observed for 10 days. After vaccination, hypothermia and overheating of animals must not be allowed, long hauls, any other load on the body are prohibited. A lot of drugs have been developed for vaccination against bradzot - “Tetratox”, concentrated polyvalent aluminum hydroxide, etc. The choice of vaccine is best given to the veterinarian.

Important! If there have already been cases of bradzot in the area, revaccination is carried out 3 months after the second vaccination in order to maintain a sufficient level of immunity.

Quarantine

Restrictive measures (quarantine) are established in the territory where sheep’s disease is observed with bradyzot: import and export of animals, moving flocks, shearing, slaughtering sick and suspicious animals for meat, skinning is prohibited.

Sheep that show signs of infection are immediately isolated and, if possible, treated. Places of cattle mortality with adjacent territories, all equipment are immediately disinfected with a 3% solution of bleach, 5% solution of hot formaldehyde or caustic soda, 5% solution of formalin, 10% solution of iodine chloride.

Work is carried out in accordance with the current instructions for veterinary disinfection.

The drugs are applied twice with an interval of 1 hour and subsequent exposure for 3 hours. Corpses are destroyed as soon as possible - they decompose quickly with a strong unpleasant odor. Autopsy is possible only in a specially equipped place in order to select pathological material for the diagnosis of the disease.

Healthy animals are immediately vaccinated, left on a stall, creating optimal conditions for the normal functioning of the sheep’s body, eliminating the occurrence of stressful situations. Feed is changed to rough with a high content of minerals. Quarantine is removed 20 days after the last case of illness or death of animals.

Did you know? During grazing, the sheep bite the grass very low, so large flocks can simply destroy the pasture. Breeding sheep in large numbers, man has turned them into animals that have a detrimental effect on nature. Bradzot is a dangerous infectious disease that can cause damage to livestock. However, timely vaccination, proper organization of pastures, feeding and watering can significantly reduce the risk of its occurrence.