With such bad weather leading to large amounts of dirty surface water, limited feed and increased stocking densities, overall infection pressure and stress was much higher than usual. This caused a many outbreaks. 

In sheep, there are two main forms of the disease: 

1. Enteric form – caused by Salmonella Hindmarsh and S. Typhimurium: 

• Mainly seen December-June.

• Cases mainly occur after a period of stress, such as yarding and transport. 

• Signs to look out for are sudden death, scouring ewes and ewes that are dull and not eating. 

2. Abortive form – caused by Salmonella Brandenberg:  

• Mainly seen in late pregnancy. 

• Causes late term abortions and death in ewes. 

If you are concerned you may have Salmonella cases occurring on your farm, talk to your KeyVet. We can test affected stock to confirm the diagnosis and aid in creating a treatment plan, along with helping you work on prevention. 

Luckily, we do have a vaccine available for Salmonella, Salvexin+B, which is a big help in controlling the disease and covers the main strains seen in New Zealand.    

If you are seeing the enteric form of the disease, the best time to vaccinate is between weaning and mating, but animals can be vaccinated as part of a treatment protocol in an outbreak.  

If you have the abortive form, then vaccination is recommended at scanning. However, in the face of an outbreak of the abortive form, vaccine is not recommended and therefore it is much better to vaccinate before the problems occur. 

If you've got any questions, please reach out to your KeyVet.