A survey of ovine dermatophilosis in Western Australia

A random sample of 200 Merino sheep owners was interviewed by telephone during April 1983 and asked questions relating to the prevalence of ovine dermatophilosis in their flocks, methods used for prevention and treatment of dermatophilosis, management strategies employed and the location and annual rainfall of each farm. The response rate was 99.5%. During the previous 12 months 62.3% of farmers had observed dermatophilosis in their flocks. The prevalence within flocks was highest in hoggets (mean 2.2%, range 0 to 75%) followed by lambs (mean 0.8%, range 0 to 25%), ewes (mean 0.6%, range 0 to 20%) and wethers (0.2%, range 0 to 20%). The mean weight of wool identified as affected by dermatophilosis was 58 kg (range 0 to 882 kg). Preventive measures were used on 57% of farms and the most common methods were changes in dipping practice (23.6%) and culling of affected sheep (21%). An average of 13.7 sheep per farm were culled for dermatophilosis and of these, 82% were sold and the remainder (18%) were killed on the farm. Antibiotics, of which most were combinations of penicillin and streptomycin were used to treat dermatophilosis on 8.5% of farms and treatments other than antibiotics were used on 10% of farms. The prevalence of dermatophilosis and its relationship to various environmental and management factors varied with the age and sex of sheep. Discriminant analysis indicated that of the factors studied, average annual rainfall, month of lambing, average fibre diameter and the month ewes were shorn were related to the prevalence of dermatophilosis in lambs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)