Heat stress as a manageable risk factor to mitigate pneumonia in lambs

Authors: Black H, Goodwin-Ray KA, Alley MR
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 53, Issue 1, pp 91-92, Feb 2005
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant, Sheep
Subject Terms: Animal welfare, Environment, Notifiable organisms/exotic disease, Syndrome, Temperature, Disease/defect, Pneumonia/pleurisy, Respiratory system, Infectious disease, Stress
Article class: Correspondence

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Abstract: The paper by Goodwin et al (2004) which appeared in the August 2004 issue of the New Zealand Veterinary Journal highlighted the prevalence and costs to the sheep industry of pneumonia in lambs. The costs are considerable, and the article begs the question, “what can sheep farmers do to reduce the effects of pneumonia in lambs?” Goodwin et al (2004) referred to multiple risk factors which have been proposed, including open-mouth panting (West et al 2002), but they commented that evidence to support the role of these was lacking. This is not correct for the major risk factor of heat stress, which may be observed by farmers and handlers as the behaviour of panting. Open-mouth panting in sheep is not an effort to inhale more air for oxygenation as in exercising humans, rather it is the cooling mechanism by which sheep use respiratory evaporation to lower elevated body temperature…

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