Dictyocaulosis - Sheep
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Pathogenesis
- Dictyocaulus filaria
- Similar to D. viviparus in cattle
- Lesions tend to be less widespread because worm numbers are generally low
Diagnosis
- Grazing history
- Clinical signs
- Faecal examination (larval identification possible by examining head, e.g. Dictyocaulus filaria (knob) or tail, e.g. Muellerius (single spine), Protostrongylus (wavy, no spine) → prognosis)
Control
- Dictyocaulus filaria:
- Difficult because outbreaks are unpredictable
- PGE control measures are normally sufficient to prevent outbreaks of disease
- Where these occur, remove and treat affected stock, replace with older immune sheep if necessary
- A commercial vaccine was available in the Middle East, though its use (were it still available) would be uneconomic in the UK