# ewe with 106.1 temperature



## dwbonfire (Jan 20, 2013)

my young jacob ewe caught my attention this evening when i brought hay out to the pasture and all of the other animals came up to eat and she was laying in the middle of the pasture and was not interested in the hay. when i rode past her she got right up and seemed to act bright, and otherwise fine. she ate her grain when i brought them into the barn but i decided to take her temperature just to be sure. it was 106.1 which i was very shocked it is so high. i took the temperature of my other ewe just to compare, and she was 102.? so i know something is not right. i gave them some hay and they are all eating fine, and she seems bright eyed. i am going to start her on penicillin but im not positive of her weight. i think she might be about 65-70 lbs, can i give her a strong dose for 100 lbs?
i have not noticed any other symptoms, no coughing or sneezing, but i have been quite busy lately so may not have seen if she has. i know there is many possibilities of what could cause her high temperature, but back in october i lost a young ram to pneumonia and never knew he had it. he had a high temp of 105 and i gave 5 days of penicillin and he seemed fine, then a month later i found him dead so i believe i did not treat long enough with the penicillin. is it most likely i am dealing with pneumonia again? temps here in NC have been dropping at night, but quite warm during the day. also we have had alot of heavy rain last week and my sheep stay out but have shelter if they choose, so she may have got wet and chilled. what else should i consider?


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## dwbonfire (Jan 21, 2013)

Any thoughts this morning? I guess i will continue with the penicillin to be on the safe side and monitor her temperature..


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## bonbean01 (Jan 21, 2013)

I've been watching your thread and hoping someone had good advice for you...also hoping your ewe is getting better.  I have no clue...no symptoms besides the temperature being high?  If it were me...I would be doing exactly what you are already doing to be on the safe side.

Hoping she'll be okay!


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## Bridgemoof (Jan 21, 2013)

Somebody has to have advice, because I am having the SAME problem. My young ewe Bon Bon has been not coming to the feeding trough for the past coupe of days. I thought maybe she just had a little belly ache or had been eating a lot of hay. But tonight I brought her in and took her temp and it was 105.6! No sneezing or wheezing or scours or anything else with her, either. We gave her a dose of La200 and some Bute, which hopefully will reduce her fever. I fear she may be pregnant too. So same kind of symptoms as you, dwBon.

What other signs can we look for to see if it may be pneumonia? What else causes a high fever?  Hoping for some advice, too.


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## RemudaOne (Jan 21, 2013)

I didn't post until now because I feel like I'm always shouting out PNEUMONIA!!!!  But I bet that's what is going on.  I've had two cases in the past three months or so but they were both in my lambs not the ewes.  The only sign I had with them was shivering in the morning.  When I took their temps they were at 106. These cases were a couple of months apart.  

LA200 and bute OR banamine is what I used both times and it worked like a charm.  Love the LA200 as you only have to give it every other day and apparently it works pretty well on respiratory issues.  Bridge, I bet you see improvement quite soon.

I lost a ewe to pneumonia but I didn't know what I was looking at.  She lagged behind the flock when they came to eat, if she ran a little bit she would be breathing open mouthed after. She lost her appetite, by the time I realized what was happening, I think her rumen had shut down and it was too late.  If you catch it early though, I think it's quite treatable.

ETA: on the advice of Dr. Kennedy with Pipestone, the lambs got 1cc sub q and 1cc orally of the LA200. Can't remember the dosing for larger sheep, but I just remembered about the oral thing.  I think that's a pretty stout dose for about 20 pound lambs, but it darn sure worked, and fast.


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## SheepGirl (Jan 21, 2013)

When my ewe had a 105.9* fever, the vet told me to give 5 cc two times per day (10 cc/day total) for five days straight. She was all better by the end of the five days.

I would recommend doing the same thing. Good luck!


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## Bridgemoof (Jan 22, 2013)

Thanks you guys so much! Bon is about 11 months old, she's a suffolk x so she's pretty big. I'm guessing around 80 pounds. She definitely has been lagging behind. But she sure had a lot of energy when we were trying to catch her! She was not out of breath and no labored breathing after we got her down. We normally would have given her Bantamine but we're out :/  I'm not sure what dosage Tim gave her on either medicine. I'll check. I hope her rumen has not shut down, but I swear I think I saw her nibbling on some hay the other day. LA200 is supposed to be a 5-day treatment. It is Tetracycline. Pipestone says don't use it on breeder rams, it will make them sterile, but after further research I see that that is unsubstantiated.

I remember when your lamb was sick Sheepgirl. Was that penicillin you were dosing her with?

dwBon, how's your ewe doing? I sure hope she has improved!


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## Bridgemoof (Jan 22, 2013)

Guess what? Bon's temperature is down to 102.6 this morning and she is eating!   We'll keep her in the barnyard and monitor her for a couple of days. I guess we'll do another treatment of LA200 too. The dosage we gave her was 5cc SubQ.


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## Shelly May (Jan 22, 2013)

Great news, glad she is improving


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## dwbonfire (Jan 22, 2013)

bridge- glad your girl is better! i have not taken my ewes temperature again, i am going to shortly. she has been eating right along with the others so im not quite sure what is going on. i gave her another dose of penicillin, but now i see that yall recommend the LA200, can i get that at tractor supply?
my ewe has been exposed to a ram, not sure if she has been bred or is pregnant yet but shes about the same age as your girl bridge, 11 months i believe. will penicillin or the LA200 be ok if she is pregnant? i dont know how much she weighs, she is a jacob sheep so shes really not that big yet, id guess 65-70 lbs and the penicillin says 1ml per 100lbs, but i know you can give them a stout dose to start with so i gave her 1.5ml.. should i continue this and for how long? or should i switch to the LA200 and what dose should i give a girl her size? i know the bottles usually say but it seems like people give higher doses than the bottles instruct.
i will post back with her temperature once i get it this morning, but again shes very bright acting and eating just fine, so im hoping i caught all of this early and can get rid of it! thanks for all the advice!


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## Bridgemoof (Jan 22, 2013)

Sounds like she's feeling better Bonfire! (Too many Bon's on this thread, lol). We get LA200 at Southern States but I'm pretty sure Tractor Supply carries it too. I *think* the dosage is 5cc per 100 lbs., but not sure. It has the dosage on the label if you find it at the store. Seems like the Penn is working for your girl, though. Take her temp and we'll know for sure.


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## bonbean01 (Jan 22, 2013)

Glad they are both doing better today!!!!  And yup...lots of Bons on here...now Bridge...your ewe is named Bon Bon?  That was one of my nicknames in highschool...that ewe better get better 

Kristi...was glad you posted your information...I can see how that can happen to us all at one time or another and we all have to know what to look for and what to do right away!!!  Thank you for posting that 

Good luck you both...sounds like things are looking up


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## Bridgemoof (Jan 22, 2013)

Yep Bon, she's named after my sister Bon, who's nickname was also Bon Bon, who incidentally had a ferret named Bon Bon.  Now I have a sheep named Bon Bon. 

So now I have another question. Is pneumonia contagious? Or an isolated incident?


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## dwbonfire (Jan 22, 2013)

i took her temperature this morning and it was 99.6 which now i think is a little on the low side.. my thermometer was left outside lastnight so im not sure if it was cold and maybe misread slightly, but she is still acting fine and i gave her another 1.5ml of penicillin. i will keep you posted and hopefully with good news! should i continue the penicillin even with her temperature back down that low?


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## Bridgemoof (Jan 22, 2013)

Oh that's good, kind of? If you're going to stick with the penicillin I would do it for 5 days.


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## dwbonfire (Jan 22, 2013)

ok, i will do that and then be sure to keep an eye on her temperature. unfortunetly with my ram i treated him for 5 or 6 days with the penicillin and it must not have been long enough to kick it completely, because a month later he was dead  so i guess it came back.

so is 99.6 ok? i thought that might be kind of low, but i will take it again tonight to see if it may have misread since my thermometer was left out in the cold.


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## Bridgemoof (Jan 22, 2013)

I don't know about low temp  I recently had a wether with a very low temp, and we ended up getting rid of him because I thought he may have some internal problems. I know he was cold because we had just sheared them (he was a Jacob, too) and he was shivering.. Does your ewe seem cold now? Is she shivering?


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## Bridgemoof (Jan 22, 2013)

Well, FYI Bon Bon's temp has dropped slightly and is still in the normal range. 101.6 So we only gave her that one treatment. I did stop by the vet to pick up some Bantamine and she said go ahead and give her another dose of the La200 3 days after the first, whether or not she has a fever to make sure everything is completely knocked out. 

Maybe if you're very worried after your experience with your ram, try the Penn for 5 days and then give her one dose of LA200 a few days later if you can get it? Maybe give some Probios, with all that Penn she may have trouble with her rumen?


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## bonbean01 (Jan 22, 2013)

Hope both your sheepies will be fine!!!!

I'm following this closely...cause I love sheep...and also to learn...have not had a sick sheep or lamb yet, but know it is just a matter of time...must write down what you are doing and what I need to pick up next time I'm in store that sells this stuff...good to have on hand.  So far only have antibiotic in my fridge...not the other stuff you mentioned....feel like I'm tempting fate here.


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## RemudaOne (Jan 22, 2013)

Glad both of the ewes are doing better . Keep taking those temps to make sure they stay on track but it sounds like you're both on easy street now. One thing that I learned quickly is that like most animals, they are creatures of habit so if they're doing something that they don't normally do, best to investigate.  

There was a question about whether or not pneumonia is contagious or not.  The answer is yes AND no . It depends on what kind of pneumonia it is.  There is one called Ovine progressive pneumonia that is very contagious and very subtle in that it can infect your whole flock before you even realize something is going on.  Here is what the Sheep 101 website says about it:

"*Ovine progressive pneumonia is a slow developing viral disease that is characterized by progressive weight loss, difficulty in breathing and development of lameness, paralysis, and mastitis. It is very closely related to caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAE) and is caused by a retrovirus. The OPP virus closely resembles Maedi-Visna which is a similar slow or retrovirus found in other parts of the world. 

OPP is transmitted laterally to other susceptible animals or to offspring through ingestion of infected milk and colostrum. Veterinary diagnostic laboratory assistance is required for diagnosis. There is no treatment, but OPP can be eliminated from the herd using annual blood testing and removal of positive animals and removal of the lambs from the ewes prior to suckling. 

It is estimated that over 50% of the flocks in the U.S. are infected with OPP with the number of sheep infected within a positive flock anywhere between 1% to 70%. However, the vast majority of infected sheep will never show respiratory disease or a wasting syndrome."
*

Here's what Sheep 201 website says about lamb pneumonia which is not contagious:

"*Pneumonia

Baby lamb pneumonia is caused primarily by the bacterium Pasteurella hemolytica, sometimes mycoplasma. It is characterized by fever, increased respiratory rate, failure to nurse, and death in untreated cases. Lambs appear gaunt and lethargic. Lambs that do not consume adequate colostrum are particularly at risk for developing pneumonia.

Ventiliation problems are commonly associated with outbreaks of pneumonia. Drafts and dampness contribute. Pneumonia is much more common with housed sheep than those raised on pasture. Pneumonia is treated with antibiotics: penicillin, tetracyclines, and others. Fluid therapy can hasten recovery

Unfortunately, vaccination of pregnant ewes with parainfluenza (PI3) has not been shown to reduce pneumonia levels in newborn lambs.

Some breeds seem to be more susceptible to respiratory problems (e.g. East Friesian)."*


These are both great websites and you can spend hours browsing through them. You can reach 201 from the 101 website.  Here's a link 

http://www.sheep101.info/

Best of luck on continued improvement  keep us posted!


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## bonbean01 (Jan 22, 2013)

Kristi...I've had those websites bookmarked for several years....not only good information, but the photos help to diagnose also...love those sites and thanks for posting them for anyone not familiar with them 

If ever I suspected a problem like these sheep...I would be screaming to you for help right away on here...posting my home phone number...you have had a rough go with this and you have experience that comes the hard way 

Also every birthing problem I could ever imagine...I have not forgotten how you were thrown into the worst of worse possible birthing your first go around...and you hung in and learned and kept going and are now a go to person for information...I'm quite in awe of you in case you didn't notice


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## RemudaOne (Jan 22, 2013)

Gosh Bonnie, thank you .  Yeah, I never imagined that my first lambing would find me elbow deep inside a ewes back end! But you do what you have to do to try to save them. Luckily, it worked out. I sold that ewe but have pictures of her and the healthy set of twins she lambed (unassisted) not too long ago.  THAT did my heart good to see! In fact Bon, I thought of her when I saw your babies. Take a look 







I can never get enough of the research and have even enrolled in an online course that starts Feb 8th. Looking forward to that .


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## dwbonfire (Jan 22, 2013)

just took her temp and its 100.6  im very happy about that! and i gave them some hay and she came right over to eat. while taking her temperature these few times i have noticed her private area and it looks like she might be in heat. to be honest, i havent really ever looked there before on my ewes because their tails cover it. but i got to thinking, would being in heat make her temperature high like it was? just a thought. it seemed like she had that high temperature for just a day and then it was gone. she never did really seem "sick" thankfully, so im not sure im dealing with a full blown case of pneumonia.. what are your thoughts on this?
i plan to continue the penicillin for the full 5 days and monitor her temperature. as far as giving the probios, is it the paste in the tube you give orally? how much and how often should i give it to her? i will pick up a tube tomorrow or the next day. thanks all!


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## bonbean01 (Jan 22, 2013)

That's good news and glad your ewe is doing so well!!!

And Kristi...those twins could be my little ewes this year!!!


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## RemudaOne (Jan 22, 2013)

Not sure what you mean by "it looks like she may be in heat", but I don't think it's out of the question that their temp may raise slightly if they are. I don't think you're going to see a spike like that though. I can't remember if she got bute or banamine.... But if so, that will knock the elevated temp back long enough for the antibiotic to get to work. This last lamb that I had with it only had the high temp until he got bute. But I have no way of knowing how long it had been climbing prior to me noticing his shivering though. 

On the probios, I'm pretty sure it's 5 grams. I have some but have never used any on them. The ewe in the picture above was on mega doses of penicillin because after I was in and out of her so many times trying to pull her lamb, she got a raging uterine infection. I even ended up dosing her with about 5 cc of Pen vaginally.  She truly was a pincushion, she never had digestive upset and never got any probios. Heck, I didn't even have it back then, lol . I do think that really pays to have a well stocked medicine cabinet for them....... Just in case. It certainly won't hurt her to give it to her. Just letting you know what my experience has been


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## RemudaOne (Jan 22, 2013)

"And Kristi...those twins could be my little ewes this year!!!"

I know, right????? Weird


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## Bridgemoof (Jan 23, 2013)

Kristi, thanks so much for all that info! The Sheep 101 site is the first site I bookmarked when I got my first sheep. It does have a lot of useful info on it, but I have to be careful because I read that stuff and imagine all my sheep are afflicted with one thing or another. :/ 

I've learned that most of the time trying to diagnose a sick sheep is a crap shoot. Best to just hit them up with all you've got, because they could be suffering from any number of things. In the case of my Bon, I have no idea what is/was wrong with her. I'm just glad she's feeling better after our treatment.

And Bon, I don't know how you do it. You've never had a problem with any of your sheep! I am starting to think your ACV and garlic drenches are the way to go. But then again, the type of sheep you have are pretty disease and parasite resistant, that's why they are so popular! You have the best luck with your sheep, I have the worst! :/

dwBon: We give our sheep about 10cc of that tube, or a third of the big tubes, if they are having rumen problems. Then about 5cc after that. I would just give her 5cc, her digestive system seems to be okay , right? So glad she is feeling better!


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## RemudaOne (Jan 23, 2013)

*I've learned that most of the time trying to diagnose a sick sheep is a crap shoot. Best to just hit them up with all you've got, because they could be suffering from any number of things. In the case of my Bon, I have no idea what is/was wrong with her. I'm just glad she's feeling better after our treatment.*

Yes! Exactly that . I tend to be pretty aggressive in treating them. I've always been that way when I am sick too . I want the doctor to LAY IT ON ME so that I can feel better faster! So load me up and let's get back to living . I guess I transfer that onto my animals as well but I can tell you that one of my least favorite things is giving them shots.  I have no trouble with the horses, even with IV shots but I hate giving even sub q to the sheep so the sooner we get them well, the sooner I get to quit doing that! That's the main reason I like the LA200 so well.  I've read of folks who have to give pen twice a day (shuddering) for five or six days, I just couldn't do it, lol!  I don't like giving the shots in the same place and I end up running out of places to inject


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## dwbonfire (Jan 23, 2013)

i hate having to give the penicillin twice a day, mostly because i only have help at night. so the morning shots are not easy, she really hates getting poked so she jumps and i feel bad because i know that makes it worse! i think i will get some of that La200 to keep on hand, but hopefully wont have to use it!


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## bonbean01 (Jan 23, 2013)

I've read and heard too many times that a sick sheep is a dead sheep...and that's not true...hitting them with everything right away saves many!

Mine not being sick yet is not luck...I believe we've gotten this far without illness only because we have such a teeny wee small herd...the more animals, the more illness likely.  I know that it is just a matter of time...we've only had sheep now for 6 years, and just a handful.  I like the Dorper best and hubby likes the Kats best, and since they are crossed...and both hardy breeds to start with, that may be part of the "luck" too?


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## EllieMay (Jan 23, 2013)

I have a ewe with the exact same symptoms (not eating, lethargic, lagging behind the rest). My ewe would not even eat grain!  I was gonna take her to the Vet because at one point the ewe was down laying next to the barn. I got a phone call from Shelly May who told me to read this thread. I gave my ewe an injection of LA300 yesterday and today she is eating and walking around with everyone else. I'm really shocked.  I'm so glad everyone's sheep are doing better now. 

I'm not sure if I should give an injection every day or every other day and for how long???


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## RemudaOne (Jan 23, 2013)

Hey DW, I think it's always better to be safe than sorry . I've got a war chest for a medicine cabinet. Some things I (hopefully) will never have to use but if I didn't have them, then sure enough I would need them on a Sunday afternoon or a holiday when everything's closed . 

Ellie, I'm not familiar with the LA300 but I am assuming its a stronger version of the LA200. The 200 in adults, I give every other day for a total of three doses. I figure this gives six days of medication.  For these recent young lambs, and on the advice from Dr. Kennedy, I gave every other day for a total of two doses. But it was a large dose given both sub q and orally.  

Also, they (Pipestone Vet) recommend all antibiotics be given sub q rather than IM. 



I just can't believe how many have been affected. I hate that but on the other hand, it makes me feel a little bit better that I've had two young lamb cases in the last several months :/


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## Bridgemoof (Jan 23, 2013)

Ellie May, that's great you were able to turn your ewe around too based on this thread!

LA200 is supposed to be a 5-day dose. There are differing opinions. Pipestone said every other day, my vet said another dose 3 days later. I can tell you what we did, one dose on Monday, then we'll give her another tomorrow and then send her on her way! So far her fever has not returned and she's still eating.


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## goodolboy (Jan 23, 2013)

EllieMay, I don't know why Shelly May won't answer you. She's just sitting there doing nothing. Put yes, 3 days is what we do if they need it. I would say your ewe needs it.


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## Shelly May (Jan 23, 2013)

Ellie may, Glad she is up and about, At the minumum I would treat her again tomorrow, as I believe you gave her the shot on tuesday, RemudaOne 
yes, here we use LA300 and is stauter, We did have a lot of Rain and it was cold rain for a couple of days straight and she could of caught pneumonia, glad all is well with everyone sheep. We can give advise on a one on one basis, but forums like these are nice when everyone has similar problems and the treatment ends up the same with good Results, This is why I sent EllieMay to the site.  's for everyone.


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## bonbean01 (Jan 23, 2013)

So true Shelly May...we all learn from forums like this!!!


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## Shelly May (Jan 23, 2013)

BonBean1, I sure wish you would give goodolboy his lamb back


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## marlowmanor (Jan 23, 2013)

Shelly May said:
			
		

> BonBean1, I sure wish you would give goodolboy his lamb back


Yep, you 2 have such similar avatars that it confuses me sometimes. I just look at the avatars sometimes and can't remember which person I am talking to!  So did one of you get a lamb from the other one?


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## bonbean01 (Jan 23, 2013)

they do look pretty similar for sure...and my ewe lambs this year look very much like twins Remuda has...makes me look like a lamb thief


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## EllieMay (Jan 23, 2013)

marlowmanor said:
			
		

> Shelly May said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


.
                    I have the same trouble.


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## goodolboy (Jan 23, 2013)

My lambs not babied like the one in all that soft straw. That lamb in my pic weighs almost 200lbs now, and is breeding 44 of our ewe lambs for a June lambing.

But he looks so cute in his baby pics, huh?


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## bonbean01 (Jan 23, 2013)

They do look they could be twins...and Marlow...nope...they just look the same


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## goodolboy (Jan 23, 2013)

There that is the same lamb at 11 mos.


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