You can't vaccinate against it and for a small flock the easiest treatment, if you are unfortunate to get it, is by injection, as Sally says.
It's not normally airborn, though would be possible if a wisp of infected wool got blown away. Transmission is therefore from another infected sheep, either by direct contact or from some wool caught on a fence. The mites can live for up to 14 days on a bit of wool.
One of the most common ways of it spreading is through markets, which is why, if in doubt it is best to isolate any new stock of unknown origin for at least 14 days.
My flock caught it some years ago. I lent out my ram and he came back with it. Unknown to me, the person I lent him to bought some more ewes from market and they were affected. He realised, injected them all, including my ram, then gave me the ram back without telling me. So, as he hadn't waited a fortnight, the ram was still carrying live mites. They spread very gradually and suddenly hit with a vengeance just as I started lambing. Everything was rubbing and itching like mad, including newborn lambs. It was awful and scab was the last thing I suspected, or I would have acted earlier. Anyway I injected with Dectamax and we got rid of it, but it knocked the ewes back so much that it took a long time to fatten the lambs that year.
So the characteristic signs are intense rubbing (not the odd scratch) till the wool comes off, leaving the skin all red, rough and raw. But if you keep a closed flock and they don't come into contact with any other sheep, or their wool, then you are unlikely to get it
Topic: Sheep scab (Read 10449 times)
