Blackleg rearing its head, vets warn

The bacterial disease reared its fatal head in the central west in the wake of rain and a flush of green feed, and Department of Agriculture senior field vet Donna Webber said the scenario of young cattle dying after going on to new feed was a classic one.

"There have been quite a few cases round Blackall and Tambo, thanks to a better season," Dr Webber, based at Roma, said.

"Definitely west of Augathella, to Jericho and Muttaburra, post mortems have confirmed the disease.

"it's a common organism but problems happen when there are lots of carbs in muscles - you won't tend to see it in dry times."

Flying vet Campbell Costello said last year's rain had resulted in a spike in cases, because spores liked a moist environment.

"You see it when you brand or castrate," he said. "You'll see a local infection that grows rapidly, then a very quick death."

He acknowledged a lack of conversation around blackleg, saying people found it shameful to admit to, in case it highlighted a degree of complacency.

"It's totally preventable through vaccination," he said.

"Get a 5-in-1, or a 7-in-1 into them, and dose them a month apart.

"It can be hard for big places to do - one dose is better than nothing though."

Dr Webber said either of those vaccines were very protective but a lot of producers tended not to use them until they thought they had a problem.

"it's good to instil it as a regular part of management," she said. "A vaccine is cheap, compared to the prices of a steer or replacement heifer."

The disease is seen as an acute, localised inflammation of muscle tissue due to growth of the blackleg organism, followed by generalised toxaemia or poisoning of the animal, causing rapid death.

Both sheep and cattle are affected, cattle between six and 18 months being the most most commonly affected by the bacterium, Clostridium chauvoei.

Death usually occurs within 48 hours of symptoms being noted, and very few affected animals survive.

Taroom vet Ian Croft said they diagnosed cases every year, generally due to a lack of vaccination.

"People are good about it, once they've had cases," he said. "If you vaccinate at branding and again at weaning, it's the cheapest protection you can buy, but complacency does creep in - you can go years without seeing it."

A booster dose should be followed up 12 months later.

Dr Will Nason, operating out of Roma, said he was seeing blackleg more in his organic clients now, because they believed they couldn't vaccinate.

"A letter from a vet, saying the vaccination will help with animal welfare, helps with that, I've found," he said.

He added that he hadn't come across much blackleg around Roma, which has been quite dry, but said a vaccination was like an insurance policy.