Help me understand Pinkeye, Chlamydia, Abortion, et al.

[greybeard]

Too many variables to know anything for sure.
Conjunctivitis and 'generic' pinkeye are terms that are interchangeable and neither in of themselves directly cause abortions.

In as much as you don't really know which specific illness may be present, much less which specific organism caused it (If any did) then finding the source would be all but impossible and even if you did know more specifics, it would still be very hard to nail down 'where it came from'. Even epidemiologists have great difficulty determining where any given outbreak 'came from' and that's knowing what the natural reservoir(s) of most bacteria and virus are.

At best, in any outbreak, they and we on the farm, can find the index case (what some call Patient Zero) but where, and how that initial case came from 'where', means the researchers still have to find out:
1. Which reservoir did it come from..Human, animal, or ....environment?...(enviro=plant, soil, water, air)
2. Once that is discovered, they have to find the reservoir's exit portal & mechanism of movement..to a carrier or intermediate host (the organism doesn't always go straight from reservoir to index patient)
3. Then, entry portal. How does the organism get into the initial patient?

For #2 & 3 it is very often some form of an oral/feces/oral/feces/oral/feces/oral path involving multiple species and hosts and may also at different points include physical touching, airborne aerosols, shedding thru lesions..........the combinations are endless.

These are all part of the Principles of Epidemiology and it is a very very complicated and highly investigative process.

We can guess, postulate, use our best 'scientific' hypothesis, but the truth is, most of the time, we never know or find out exactly "how" many of our animals become infected.

 

[Sheepshape]

So, Sheepshape - you're saying that's it's possible the abortus variety of chlamydia preceded/caused the pinkeye/conjunctivitis?

It's certainly said that 'abortus' can cause pinkeye, but I've had pinkeye every year and only ever had two ewes abort (of many hundreds of pregnancies).

I've got 30 plus chickens and cats, too. Kittens are the more likely to harbour toxoplasmosis than adult cats. I would certainly avoid using hay where kittens have been born, though.

I usually treat pinkeye with an injection of a long-acting tetracycline, but re-infections and some resistance is fairly common. Eye ointments can be better, but can be very time-consuming to apply, particularly if large amounts of animals are affected.

A prod in the eye from a hay stalk can cause conjunctivitis won't pass from animal to animal, but 'pinkeye' (infectious keratoconjunctivitis) in sheep IS very infectious and the conjunctiva of the eye (inside of the eyelids etc) is very red and swollen. If 'pinkeye' is not treated it can progress to the eyeball becoming cloudy and this, in turn, can blind the animal (not usually permanently , but can be).

Shepherd0, the definition of a sheep according to my vet is " A white thing which lies around in fields trying to die", but an outbreak of 'pinkeye' is usually fairly benign, albeit a complete nuisance.

 

[shepherdO]

Sheepshape - I think I've heard that description before - very funny Greybeard, thanks for your knowledge, and taking the time to respond.

Basically, what I'm taking from this is that pinkeye/conjunctivitis is very common and infectious, but, while it's possibly that it's related to (eg) chlamydia, or caused by some sort of toxoplasma, that is not necessarily the case or cause.

As a result, treating it is a good idea, if nothing else, to prevent blindness in the sheep, and prevent the spread of the disease amongst my flock.

I'll hope for the best, and just assume it's a little health hurdle to get over, rather than a possible abortion storm because, as Sheepshape has intimated, conjunctivitis/pinkeye is very common (an regular/annual event), whereas sheep abortions are typically not common at all - at least, the 'abortion storm' variety.

Phewfff!

One more question -how long is it worth separating the original ewe? I've had her in an isolation pen for probably close to a couple weeks now (can't remember the exact date). She's a HUGE hay waster, so the other night we scraped up all the hay we could get in her pen and house, and burned it on one of our regular fall burnpiles, so presumably there's not a lot of infected hay accessible for the other sheep to dig around in and get sick from when we let the ewe out of her pen eventually.

 

[shepherdO]

Last question - I was going to use the pen and house she's currently in for our great pyrenees to whelp in next week. I'm assuming pinkeye is contagious to other animals (zoonotic, correct?). If I do a good scraping, put down lots of good new hay/straw, would the place be suitable for the pups to be born in?

 

[Sheepshape]

I'm assuming pinkeye is contagious to other animals (zoonotic, correct?)

I don't think most causes of 'pinkeye' jump species to dogs.....though humans are at risk from enzootic abortion (Chlamydia abortus). Best for pregnant women to give lambing a VERY wide berth.

Thankfully, most things that sheep have don't affect us, though there are a few. Another notable one is orf......I have the dubious distinction of having had this one. When drenching your sheep wear gloves. The ewe/lamb may not appear to have orf, but the virus can stay on the animal for a long time. Whilst holding the animals' mouth, the virus can be transferred into a crack in the skin (in my case I think it was a ewe with a jagged tooth. A very painful sore then appears which lasts for about 6 weeks and is often accompanied by a general rash called erythema multiforme . I was covered with it.... If your immune system isn't up to scratch it can be fatal.

So, moving swiftly on.......the most likely problem you will get from sheep is a) head butted by ram b) toppled over by ewes clamouring for food. Sheep lice, scab, footrot, CODD......thankfully species specific!