Diarrhoea In Lambs: Prevention And Treatment

Thousands of lambs and calves have died in South Africa and Botswana in recent years due to a virulent, fast-spreading Cryptosporidium and Escherichia coli disease complex. Veterinarian Dr Liezel Wasserman, who has been investigating the problem, spoke to Sabrina Dean.

- Dr Liezel Wasserman

Free State-based veterinarian Dr Liezel Wasserman is considered by many to be one of the foremost experts in managing diarrhoea in lambs and calves.

She started building up her expertise on the subject following the appearance of a distinctive yellowish diarrhoea that was causing fatalities in beef cattle calves in the area in which she was practising near Clocolan in the eastern Free State.

The first incidences occurred at the end of 2013, and the following year, Wasserman started receiving similar reports about lambs.

She has since identified the cause as a Cryptosporidium and Escherichia coli disease complex that has spread to various parts of South Africa, and even as far as Botswana.

“To date, my observations have suggested that more than 18 000 lambs and over 7 000 calves have died from this,” she says.

During her quest to identify the disease and determine its origin, she has studied in detail how best to deal with various types of diarrhoea encountered in lambs and calves.

She addressed the topic during her presentation to sheep farmers attending the provincial congress of the National Wool Growers’ Association held in Brandfort in the Free State earlier this year.

THE SPREAD OF E. COLI

According to Wasserman, there are nearly 900 types of E. coli bacteria in existence.

“Within an hour of birth, every newborn, whether it be a lamb, calf or baby human, will have up to 100 different bacterial colonies living inside its intestinal canal.”

E. coli are able to spread remarkably quickly and, in addition, can build up resistance to antibiotics within days.