A Goondiwindi-based vet believes recent cases of pinkeye across the country may have been misdiagnosed and all assumed knowledge of the disease should be questioned.
Mac Kneipp is currently completing a PhD study through the University of Sydney in partnership with Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) to investigate new causes and risk factors behind the growing problem.
Pinkeye in cattle is believed to be caused by the bacteria, Moraxella bovis, and with the assistance of vaccination and health treatments is perceived by many industry groups to be under control.
But Mr Kneipp believes the disease is far from contained and can no longer be attributed to a single cause.
"Everywhere I go I just see pinkeye and I just think this is not under control but we are all told it's under control," he said.
"If you believe that it is caused by this single bacteria and the vaccine works and the antibiotics work then it should be under control but it's not."
Before speaking to The Land, Mr Kneipp pregnancy tested 150 Brahman cows owned by producers who believed they had no pinkeye cases. But Mr Kneipp counted at least 18 head with indications of scars or blind eyes.
"Could it be that people have got it wrong and it's multi-bacterial?' he said.
Earlier this year, many producers in northern NSW were forced to hold onto their stock rather than selling due to a rise in pinkeye infections.
Now, Mr Kneipp is calling on cattle producers to complete an online survey into their experience with the disease to provide a better understanding of the risk factors surrounding outbreaks.
He said some people attributed pinkeye to close contact, dust or even pollen.
While he didn't deny Moraxella bovis may be a cause of some pinkeye cases, Mr Kneipp declined to believe it was the only factor.
"To have tetanus you must have the bug before you will get tetanus," he said.
"It's the same with botulism and anthrax. That's a totally necessary cause for every disease but there are others where there are multiple concauses and they are called component causes.
"You don't have to have any particular bug to get diarrhoea in calves or pneumonia in a feedlot.
"It's not one bug and this thing of telling people about one bacteria just makes them focus on one of the seven things it possibly could be."
The new study aims to prove incidence of the disease is much higher than recent studies indicate.
A pinkeye survey published in 1982 covering the years 1975 to 1979 indicated a prevalence of around 10 per cent in young animals.
But two subsequent studies in 2006 and 2015 showed a significantly lower occurrence rate, despite Mr Kneipp's early survey responses labelling 2018 one of the worst years for the disease.
Based on early calculations using vaccination sales and herd numbers, Mr Kneipp anticipates a 10.9 per cent annual incidence rate.
So far about 700 people have completed the online survey, which Mr Kneipp hopes will reach 1500 submissions to make it the biggest survey of risk factors of pinkeye anywhere in the world.
To complete the survey visit: bit.ly/pinkeye-survey
Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
