Farming with livestock comes with rewards and challenges. It is up to farmers to keep themselves informed about diseases that might affect their animals. Dr Didi Claassen, head of pathology at Afrivet, shares her insights into skin disease, prevention, and mitigation.
Staphylococcus aureus is a type of bacteria that affects livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep, and pigs, Claassen explains. This means that staphylococcal skin infections associated with folliculitis and furunculosis may manifest as lesions in almost any location on the body.
“Staphylococci are bacteria that occur on the skin normally, so we call that commensal organism. This just means if you take a swab from the skin of your livestock, you will culture a staphylococci organism. They are very common, especially on the skin and they don’t cause primary skin lesions. It’s usually a secondary condition or affection on the skin following another insightful cause,” Claassen says.
How does skin diseases affect different livestock?
Cattle: Staphylococcal infections can cause hair follicle inflammation leading to the common skin ailment known as folliculitis. It’s frequently brought on by a bacterial infection. At first, the tiny pockets where each hair grows may appear to be little pimples (hair follicles). The disorder may be uncomfortable, painful, and unpleasant.
“The organisms that they culture in areas of folliculitis or impetigo aren’t always staphylococci in origin but it is a secondary infection due to another in the sighting course,” Claassen explains.
Sheep: The skin disease is usually seen in the head or around the head. This can be caused by trauma, for example when the animals are feeding in close proximity at the feeding trough which can cause damage to the skin.
In this episode, Claassen also discusses:
- How the skin disease affects other livestock such as goats, sheep, and pigs;
- How to mitigate the disease; and
- And how to treat the disease.
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