The Sunday News
Mhlupheki Dube Farming Issues
ONE follower of this column sent a message indicating that his goats were turning blind and he wanted to know what could be done.
As in many cases I advised him to visit the local veterinary officer for physical diagnosis because a remote diagnosis is less accurate.
I therefore thought I should discuss one of the diseases that cause blindness in goats.
It is called infectious keratoconjunctivitis but commonly referred to as the pink eye.
Pink eye is a combined inflammation of the cornea and conjunctiva and it is caused by a number of bacterial micro-organisms such as mycoplasma conjunctivae.
It can also be caused by other organisms that are viral in nature. Pink eye affects mostly small ruminants such as sheep and goats but it may also affect cattle.
Signs of pink eye include squinting, watery, red, swollen eyes, cloudiness in white part of eyes, in severe cases, wound-like ulcers may appear in the eyes. As pink eye progresses, the eyes become redder.
Goats also experience pain, swelling, and tearing in the eyes, yellow or green pus will drain from the eyes and dry into crusts.
Pink eye can cause temporary blindness in goats, or permanent blindness in severe and untreated cases.
The disease is highly infectious and very contagious and hence it can quickly spread within your flock.
When sheep and goats eat out of the same trough, they can easily transmit or contract the disease.
Overcrowding and poor ventilation contribute to the spread of the disease. Dry, dusty conditions and irritants such as flies tend to predispose or exacerbate the disease. Flies or dust can carry the bacteria to the eye. Flies contribute a lot to the transmission of the disease causing organism and therefore it is important to control fly population especially for farmers with big flocks.
Also stress such as transportation of animals or nutritional stress can predispose your goats or sheep to pink eye problems as stress tends to compromise the immunity of the animals.
Pink eye is also usually introduced by animals that are bought into the flock.
Therefore there is a need to be more careful about animals that are bought elsewhere and take precautionary measures such as seeking records from the supplier. You may also quarantine newly purchased animals to avoid the possibility of introducing sick animals into the herd.
There is no vaccine that exists for preventing the disease.
When treating the disease affected animals should be isolated from the rest of the flock to prevent the spread of the disease. They should be housed in a clean, dry, comfortable, and shady place. Pink eye is usually treated with any number of antibiotics that are injected into the body or placed directly in the eye.
The most common treatment is to apply antibiotic ointments to the affected eye(s) two to four times per day. Ointments are usually more effective than powders or sprays. They are less irritating to the already inflamed eye. Before applying medicine to the eye, the animal’s face should be cleaned and the debris around the eye(s) should be removed. Surgical gloves should be used when affected animals are handled.
Pink eye like most diseases negatively affects the productivity of a flock as it may even cause abortions within your flock.
Do not underestimate the impact of Pink eye on goat health and institute treatment quickly to curb the damages mindful of the fact that this is a highly infectious and contagious disease which can easily affect 80 percent of your flock in no time.
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