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By Department of Primary Industries - 2nd February 2006 - Back to News

PINK EYE PROBLEMS

Pink-eye, or infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis, occurs in cattle throughout the world. It is a contagious disease and in Victoria occurs mainly in young cattle in summer and autumn.

A number of bacteria and viruses have been found to cause pink-eye but the most important is the bacteria Moraxella bovis.

Infective discharge from the eyes of affected cattle can be spread to other cattle by flies, or on to long grass grazed by the cattle. Sunlight and dust make the problem worse. There may also be other organisms, such as viruses and mycoplasmas that cause eye damage and allow Moraxella bovis to become established.

The first signs of pink-eye are usually a copious watery eye discharge, aversion to sunlight, signs of irritation like excessive blinking, and reddening and swelling of the eyelids and the third eyelid. Usually only one eye is affected.

The eye will then go cloudy in the middle and may ulcerate during the next two days. Many animals spontaneously recover at this stage. In a small number of untreated cases, ulceration may progress to abscess formation, with possible rupture of the cornea and permanent blindness. After recovery about 2% of affected eyes have a residual white scar on the cornea. An even smaller percentage progress to abscess formation.

Most cattle recover from pink-eye without treatment, 3-5 weeks after infection. Mustering cattle for the purpose of treating pink-eye is unwise because dust and flies increase the spread of infection. If mustering is needed for essential management procedures such as weaning and drenching, affected cattle should be treated for pink-eye while in the yards and severely affected cattle, such as those with abscesses in both eyes, should be isolated, treated daily and carefully nursed.

If the disease is in the early watery discharge stage, dusts, sprays or ointments may be used successfully. These preparations contain antibiotics and occasionally anti-inflammatory drugs and are available on a veterinarian's prescription. Ointments are preferred because they are effective for longer periods, and are less irritating and less traumatic to the eye.

In late and more severe stages of the disease, injection of a combination of a broad-spectrum antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drug underneath the upper eyelid is often successful. An eye patch that protects the eye from dust, flies and sunlight can be used in conjunction with this treatment.

BEWARE FORECAST STORMS WHEN SPREADING FERTILISER

The intense thunderstorms and heavy rain events that we recently experienced emphasise the need to take care when ordering and spreading fertilisers over the summer months. This is because heavy rain can cause a considerable amount of surface run-off, particularly from irrigated land, which may already be wet from a recent watering.

Surface run-off has the potential to carry large quantities of recently applied fertiliser into drains, dams and local waterways. It is possible for hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of fertiliser to be lost from a farm in a single storm event.

Fertiliser granules need to sit on the soil surface for four to seven days to allow the nutrients to be leached into the soil by moisture. Until this happens, there is potential for large losses with rainfall or irrigation run-off. Research has indicated that irrigation or rainfall is not required to wash fertilisers into the soil; it is more likely to wash it off the farm into waterways when run-off occurs.

Farmers who irrigate pasture can minimise their fertiliser losses by applying them when the forecast predicts dry stable weather, spreading when the soils are moist but not wet and by installing a re-use system to catch and re-cycle as much irrigation and rainfall run-off as possible.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: support@gippsland.com