Facial eczema warning in Gippsland

THE next few months have the potential of increased risk of facial eczema outbreaks in Gippsland.

To help farmers manage the risk of facial eczema in their herds, Dairy Australia and GippsDairy will again support a pasture spore monitoring service across a series of sentinel farms in Gippsland. Click here for more information.

Remember that early intervention is critical.

When local pasture spore counts trend upward of 20,000 spores/gram and weather conditions look favourable for sporulation, each farm should monitor its own pasture spore counts week to week and implement facial eczema control and prevention strategies.

Spores have already been recorded at low levels in pasture samples in December.

To ensure maximum reliability of pasture spore counts, a consistent approach to collecting pasture samples is required.

The correct method is provided in Appendix A of the Dairy Australia document A Review of Facial Eczema (Pithomycotoxicosis) (updated 2013).

Spore counts on samples collected may be done at a number of veterinary clinics across Gippsland.

Daily feeding of zinc supplements to dairy herds during high risk periods has been shown to protect them from the fungal toxin responsible for facial eczema.

However the stringent regulatory conditions for the control of veterinary medicines in Australia require that treatments used in food producing animals are assessed and approved by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA).

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Facial eczema warning in Gippsland