The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: trish.farm on March 20, 2015, 07:18:20 pm
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Actually got up close to some of my lambs today which is not often, stunned to see that half a dozen of them have warty growths all round their mouths. I am assuming this is Orfe??? Have never experienced orfe before. Have had sheep on the farm for 20 years and never had it. Havent bought any new sheep in, the only newcomer was the tup i borrowed in sept for a month. So where did the virus come from?
Lambs are between 1 and 4 weeks old. All fit and healthy apart from the few that have nasty faces. Are they all goinng to get it? Should i take all licks etc out of the field to stop it spreading??? Panic panic panic!!!!!
And can my cows catch it??
oh and do i need to treat the lambs? please dont say yes, i really dread having to try and catch them all up!!!!
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Ive no idea Trish but I feel for you. Ive got my fingers crossed for you and your flock :fc:
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I had this last year and the vet didn't seem to regard it as a huge issue. It cleared up of its own accord and I understand that some sort of immunity if conferred. We weren't advised to separate affected lambs. I gather that it can be linked to mastitis in Mum and I had one ewe that did get mastitis where her lambs had orfe.
Helen
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We have 3 tame lambs with orf at the moment. You can get Ovaloids which are sulphur based treatments that help lambs get over the virus from local country stores. Ours have had 2 ovaloids and will have another 2 6 days after. Must wear gloves whilst treating orf as humans can get it too. Ours have had 3 days treatment pen&strep to prevent secondary infection and blue antibiotic spray on the warts to help dry them up. You can get a vaccination called scabivax to prevent it in the future but once you start vaccinating you mustn't stop. I have also read that rough salt licks help clear up the virus.
Cows can't catch it as far as I'm aware it's only sheep goats humans.
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no sign of mastitis in any of the mums, will have a good check tomorrow. Is it just the affected lambs that are contagious to humans, obviously havent touched any of the lambs but the ewes all bundle round me at feed time, and are very touchy, feely!!
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To be honest I would treat any animals that have been in contact with infected lambs with caution, our 3 are in with 4 others and all have been isolated from other lambs and treated as if they could be infectious, you don't know when they could break out in the virus. So always wearing gloves when handling any of them, careful hand washing etc. If there are a lot of ewes/lambs maybe ring your vet and see if you should vaccinate the rest, once your farm has it it is extremely hard to get rid of so may come back next year.
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how did my lambs get it in the first place? something must have infected them ???
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It can lie dormant for a long time and may have been brought in by the tup.
Easiest and cheapest treatment is to mix yellow sulphur powder from your local agricultural store, or flowers of sulphur from your chemist, with a roughly equal quantity of salt. Place in a container and the sheep will help themselves. It dries up the scabs and helps stop it spreading any further. It doesn't work immediately, but suddenly, after about 2 weeks you'll find the orf has disappeared.
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Alamycin type spray sorts it out but obviously you'll have to catch them first. It may very well spread to the ewes teats and can cause mastitis....all good fun this lambing lark!
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i was always told with orf, it will run its course, then go away...
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Now some have got it, they'll not be a lot of hope of stopping the rest catching it, i.e. with the licks you mentioned. You'll need to watch out for it catching onto the ewe's teats too. I suggest you give the lambs an antibiotic injection and spray with an engemycin/terramycin spray, to help dry it up. However, as has been said orf does have to run its course, and ovaloids are supposed to help them recover, but I don't think they contain anything medicinal.
I'm not sure if cows get it, but people can!
You could scratch them with scabivax to vaccinate them against orf, but they may still get it as there are a lot of different 'strains' of it.
Hope this helps :)
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Ovaloids contain sulphur which is said to help them recover from the virus but aren't medicinal hence not only available from the vet. I gave our 3 2 ovaloids on Tuesday and their orf hasn't spread to anywhere else in their body, the sores are looking a lot less angry (although the alamycin blue spray seems to be working a treat too) and they are well in themselves.
I've done a lot of reading these past few days and pretty certain cows don't get orf. It will run its course within 2 weeks but it's more about minimising the effects of it (can cause reduced growth rates due to the mouth being sore therefore not drinking as much) hence where ovaloids, blue spray and antibiotics come in. They won't make the virus go away but do help lambs cope with it better.
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oh lordy be!! To treat or not to treat, to isolate or not, to vacinate or not????????????????
Ok, first thing i will don my gloves, check over all the ewes for mastitis and ucky teats.
Will get some yellow sulpher powder and salt out into the paddock.
Will get some ovaloids and try and catch the little critters, and spray their wee mouths at the same time. I am assuming its safe to spray round their mouths with alamycin?
Going to leave them all together as they have probably caught it already if they are going to ???
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I understand it can lie dormant in the soil for some time. If you have thistles/ brambles in the field, the lambs scratch their mouths and the infection can get in. We don't isolate but do treat. It's not pretty but it usually clears up quite quickly.
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Checked all the ewes today and all udders are fine. :relief:
Checked all lambs (not an easy task as they are very full of the joys of spring) only 4 appear to have orfe so far. Have bought every substance under the sun to treat them, but as yet havent caught one of the little critters!!
Have removed all licks from the paddock to try and prevent spread :fc: nobody very impressed with this move!!
Salt and sulpher in a feed bucket for them in the paddock. Nobody very impressed with this either!!
Will get some hurdles out in the paddock later and try and catch the 4 infected specimens!!
Have spent all day washing my hands! Never had such clean hands in my life!! :roflanim:
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Our lambs had it last year, a mystery where it came from- somebody suggested thistles to us too. We put out salt licks and kept an eye on the ewes. It was unsightly, but disappeared after a couple of weeks and ewe was fine. I think it just has to run it's course, but I'm expecting it this year as apparently once you have it on your land it remains. Poor little lambies, but it only spoils their good looks for a little while. Do remember to wear gloves though to avoid catching it yourself.
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Alamycin type spray sorts it out
The medical profession disagree with you
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3 of my pet lambs got it last year and one required antibiotics from the vet as became infected. You can spray with Terramycin or use Sudocrem. Unfortunately it is very catching and I caught it on my hand and had to visit the Doctor who was fascinated and gave me some antiviral tabs.
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There is a bacterial infection that has a very mild orfe-type effect (sorry, can't remember the name for now). Two of our lambs had it a couple of years ago and a/b spray cleared it. I caught orfe from the calving shed at a farming college but it didn't bother me (might have if it'd been on my face or hand rather than my arm, though).
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Me
We were told last week by one of the vets at Liverpool vet school to use alamycin/Terramycin spray!
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Ok - it's a virus.. I am in the lucky position of having it on my hand at the moment! :unwell:
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Ouch....I've been told its very painful
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It is. But I'm a wimp! On the plus side I don't need to look in the mirror to see my reflection! Hand is round and shiney!
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I only noticed the orfe yesterday, could have been there for days and I have been handling the ewes and stroking the one tameish lamb, (who is ok so far) have been wearing sexy gloves since I noticed it and washing my mitts regularly, but assume I could have caught it already!!! eeeeeek!!!!! :o
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We have treated with terrmycin spray for first time this year an it seems to dry it up nicely. Repeat 2 or 3 days later and sorted. Sorry vitnerries if this doesnt fit the science ;-)
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Orf is a virus.
Antibiotics are effective against bacterial infections.
Orf is not a bacterial infection.
Sometimes, not in every lamb, there may be a secondary infection of the orf lesion. The secondary infection may well be bacterial.
Orf will clear up on its own.
It will also clear up if you treat it with blue spray, purple spray or dunk the lambies' faces in a concentrated solution of Daz.
Like most sheepkeepers, I feel bad about doing nothing if the stock are clearly suffering - so we use either Daz and/or purple (antiseptic) spray. Both seem to help prevent secondary infection.
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But are your sheep whiter than white Sally?
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Orfe looks a lot like Herpes. If you catch it yourself, do you harbour the virus for life, like Herpes?
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Orfe looks a lot like Herpes. If you catch it yourself, do you harbour the virus for life, like Herpes?
Oh great!!! Now I have Herpes to add to my list of problem!!! :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
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sorry Trish!! Hopefully no relation to Herpes! ;)
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We've discussed before that there may be a link between reaction to orf and whether a person has cold sores (ie,, Herpes.) I don't think we've ever concluded either way, but it does seem to be the case that some people do have a really horrid time if they get orf, whereas many just have an irritating and somewhat painful lesion which really isn't the end of the world. And some of the latter (but not none of the former) have also had cold sores in the past.
And Me - yes, they do have very clean faces once we've Dazzed them! It's a bluey-white of course... ;)
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We get a few lambs every year - when they move into a field with gorse in it. Never seen it on any of my ewes, not all lambs get it and all have recovered without any treatment (I'm on standby to treat with sudocream if mouths start looking sore, but so far they have just gone warty then back to normal. Fingers crossed yours goes the same :fc: :fc:
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and given that Orfe is very contagious, how do you deal with your own lesions once you have them? "Me" has it on his hand, so does he need to have the hand covered? What about towels and bed linen he has touched?
When my children were very young they caught impetigo and gosh was that a pain to manage...... separate towels and crazy laundry regimes. Do you have to do the same with Orfe?
(sorry to ask this, all those currently infected, but forewarned is forearmed!)
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Orf enters through broken skin, so if you have cuts in your hands (or elsewhere ;) :0) and a partner with orf, then yes take care!
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I am told human-human spread is very rare interestingly, we shall see. I've been around pet lambs etc with orf since the age of 2 and never had it - until now! I am also told that immunity in people to orf is generally solid and long lasting...
Maybe now I have a giant manky hand to show off people will stop asking me to lamb their scraggly ewes!
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that's interesting Me. If immunity is supposed to be solid how come you've caught it now do you think? Sorry to keep going on but its now sounding a bit like the chickenpox virus, showing up as shingles years later.
Maybe I should shut up! :innocent:
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And the next question is - as soon do symptoms show if you have caught it? I have been careful around my sheep since Friday when I noticed the orfe, but was handling them all up until then!! My hands are covered in scratches and cuts (not very pretty or feminine!!) so very easy to get infected!!
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Well as I've never had it before I had no immunity. Hoping now I have had it I will not have it again! Tempted to post a photo but don't want anyone losing their lunch, the world is not ready
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ooh picture please!!!!! :excited:
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Spray the lesions with Bactocyde (https://www.fanevalleystores.com/product/105934/nettex-bactocyde-extra-strength-disinfectant-trigger-spray-500ml (https://www.fanevalleystores.com/product/105934/nettex-bactocyde-extra-strength-disinfectant-trigger-spray-500ml)) and put out lump rock salt (the pink lumps) as this will prevent any others getting it.
Me - dunno if Bactocyde works on humans...:)
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ooh picture please!!!!! :excited:
Really?
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Just for research purposes of course :innocent: not because I am weird nutter who takes pleasure in others pain!!!
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You asked for it. This is just where it started to turn from just Orf to Orf plus bacterial friends/lymphangitis. The arm went a bit purple and hand blew up like a balloon! What fun!
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Faint at this point, became dark.. oh dear.
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Ouch!!!!! that looks really nasty!!!! (but glad to say I haven't caught it too) :fc: :innocent:
Rather spooky that you posted that at exactly the same time I posted an update on my lambs with orfe!!!!
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Orf plus bacterial friends/lymphangitis
Guess you should have used the blue spray! ;D
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Yes I now look like a 6 foot smurf and the Orf will be better in another 4 weeks so it must work ;)
:thumbsup: < that is not a smiley its a photo of my giant swollen hands!
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:roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
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:o I hope you already have a partner cos im not fancying your chances on on any dates looking like that :D
You poor soul.......it looks gruesome.
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Fortunately it will soon pass and I will be back to my normal, drop dead gorgeous, heart-stoppingly handsome self :bow:
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well that's nice to hear :D
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A friend tried an antiviral coldsore ointment on her lambs with Aciclovir in it and said it worked within a couple of days.
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A friend tried an antiviral coldsore ointment on her lambs with Aciclovir in it and said it worked within a couple of days.
That's very interesting. Sorry, but I couldn't see why it had to be whispered ;)
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A friend tried an antiviral coldsore ointment on her lambs with Aciclovir in it and said it worked within a couple of days.
That's very interesting. Sorry, but I couldn't see why it had to be whispered ;)
oops thanks Sally not sure how that happened I didn't mean to whisper it!!
Not sure if it is something if aciclovir is/will be available from vets in products as an antiviral treatment, but I imagine the coldsore ointment could be viable to use if in a limited number of lambs.
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Our lambs are 2 weeks into their orf and starting to show signs of clearing up... still not a nice sight though. There seems to be a shortage of scabivax this year, our vets have said there's a 3 week wait so whilst we have some on order it's just fingers crossed the other 4 in their pen don't get it.
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How's your attractive infection , Me? :-J