Stringent hygiene protocols can keep abscesses at bay

Sheep and goat abscesses are not only painful to the animals they affect, but can have a devastating effect on a producer’s pocket.

- Claudi Nortje

Two of the most common culprits that cause these unfortunate afflictions are Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis and Trueperella pyogenes.

C. pseudotuberculosis is a facultative aerobic, gram-positive bacterium that lives in soil. This bacterium is the causative organism of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) and has been isolated from goats, sheep, horses, cattle, and humans (although to a lesser extent).

T. pyogenes, previously known as Arcanobacterium pyogenes, is a nonmotile, facultative anaerobic, gram-positive bacterium. It is an opportunistic bacterium that can cause a diverse range of diseases such as mastitis, liver abscesses, and pneumonia in cattle, sheep, pigs, and goats.

Spread of the bacteria

Normally, these two types of bacteria infect the more susceptible animals in the herd, with infection spreading further via infected animals. C. pseudotuberculosis infections can occur when certain procedures, such as ear tagging, tail docking or castration are performed using unsterilised tools.

T. pyogenes can infect animals through breaks in the skin barrier caused by wounds from ticks, thorns, grass seeds, and weeds. In sheep in particular, grass seeds are known to penetrate the soft skin around the throat, which can lead to abscesses around the tongue and pharynx.

C. pseudotuberculosis

When infected with C. pseudotuberculosis, it takes between 15 and 140 days for an abscess to develop. The infected animals usually show few clinical signs, but when a large number of abscesses develop, animals will lose weight and become lethargic.