Cargando…

Excretion of Eimeria spp. oocysts in young lambs following iron supplementation

BACKGROUND: Iron is an essential nutrient, and iron supplementation has been shown to reduce the incidence of abomasal bloat in lambs. Additionally, iron deficiency is linked to pica, which may increase uptake of Eimeria oocysts. Coccidiosis in sheep, caused by Eimeria spp., is an important infectio...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Odden, Ane, Vatn, Synnøve, Ruiz, Antonio, Robertson, Lucy Jane, Enemark, Heidi Larsen, Nes, Silje Katrine, Tømmerberg, Vibeke, Stuen, Snorre
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6114706/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30157884
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13028-018-0404-6
_version_ 1783351242275160064
author Odden, Ane
Vatn, Synnøve
Ruiz, Antonio
Robertson, Lucy Jane
Enemark, Heidi Larsen
Nes, Silje Katrine
Tømmerberg, Vibeke
Stuen, Snorre
author_facet Odden, Ane
Vatn, Synnøve
Ruiz, Antonio
Robertson, Lucy Jane
Enemark, Heidi Larsen
Nes, Silje Katrine
Tømmerberg, Vibeke
Stuen, Snorre
author_sort Odden, Ane
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Iron is an essential nutrient, and iron supplementation has been shown to reduce the incidence of abomasal bloat in lambs. Additionally, iron deficiency is linked to pica, which may increase uptake of Eimeria oocysts. Coccidiosis in sheep, caused by Eimeria spp., is an important infection, leading to reduced welfare and economic losses. The aims of our study were to investigate: (1) the use of iron supplementation in Norwegian sheep flocks using a questionnaire survey, and (2) whether iron supplementation reduced excretion of Eimeria oocysts and increased the growth rates of young lambs. RESULTS: A questionnaire regarding the use of iron supplementation, sent to all members of the Norwegian Sheep Recording System (n = 4993), showed that 152/1823 farmers iron-supplemented lambs, either orally (56.7%) or by injection (43.3%). The main purpose of supplementation was to prevent abomasal bloat (38.4%), coccidiosis (9.3%), or both (27.8%). In the field study, 102 twin lambs from five flocks were included: one twin (treated) received 600 mg of gleptoferron subcutaneously within 3 days of birth, whereas the control was given saline. McMaster analysis of individual faecal samples obtained at weekly intervals (n = 4 per lamb, starting at turnout) showed no significant difference in oocyst excretion between treatment groups at any sampling, except for one flock 14 days after turnout. Mean growth rates, measured at iron injection, 21 days after turnout, and in the autumn, differed significantly between treated and untreated lambs from iron injection to 21 days after turnout, however, no difference in growth rates was observed in the overall period from iron injection to autumn. Blood analysis suggested that the controls were at risk of developing iron deficiency anaemia during the housed period, but signs of anaemia were not observed. CONCLUSION: Iron supplementation of lambs was used by 8.3% of the farmers responding to the questionnaire, mainly with the intention to prevent abomasal bloat, coccidiosis, or both. The field trial results indicate that iron supplementation of young lambs do not reduce oocyst excretion and only induced a transitory increase in weight gain. However further studies, including more flocks and possibly repeated iron injections, would provide more definitive information. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13028-018-0404-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6114706
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2018
publisher BioMed Central
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-61147062018-09-04 Excretion of Eimeria spp. oocysts in young lambs following iron supplementation Odden, Ane Vatn, Synnøve Ruiz, Antonio Robertson, Lucy Jane Enemark, Heidi Larsen Nes, Silje Katrine Tømmerberg, Vibeke Stuen, Snorre Acta Vet Scand Research BACKGROUND: Iron is an essential nutrient, and iron supplementation has been shown to reduce the incidence of abomasal bloat in lambs. Additionally, iron deficiency is linked to pica, which may increase uptake of Eimeria oocysts. Coccidiosis in sheep, caused by Eimeria spp., is an important infection, leading to reduced welfare and economic losses. The aims of our study were to investigate: (1) the use of iron supplementation in Norwegian sheep flocks using a questionnaire survey, and (2) whether iron supplementation reduced excretion of Eimeria oocysts and increased the growth rates of young lambs. RESULTS: A questionnaire regarding the use of iron supplementation, sent to all members of the Norwegian Sheep Recording System (n = 4993), showed that 152/1823 farmers iron-supplemented lambs, either orally (56.7%) or by injection (43.3%). The main purpose of supplementation was to prevent abomasal bloat (38.4%), coccidiosis (9.3%), or both (27.8%). In the field study, 102 twin lambs from five flocks were included: one twin (treated) received 600 mg of gleptoferron subcutaneously within 3 days of birth, whereas the control was given saline. McMaster analysis of individual faecal samples obtained at weekly intervals (n = 4 per lamb, starting at turnout) showed no significant difference in oocyst excretion between treatment groups at any sampling, except for one flock 14 days after turnout. Mean growth rates, measured at iron injection, 21 days after turnout, and in the autumn, differed significantly between treated and untreated lambs from iron injection to 21 days after turnout, however, no difference in growth rates was observed in the overall period from iron injection to autumn. Blood analysis suggested that the controls were at risk of developing iron deficiency anaemia during the housed period, but signs of anaemia were not observed. CONCLUSION: Iron supplementation of lambs was used by 8.3% of the farmers responding to the questionnaire, mainly with the intention to prevent abomasal bloat, coccidiosis, or both. The field trial results indicate that iron supplementation of young lambs do not reduce oocyst excretion and only induced a transitory increase in weight gain. However further studies, including more flocks and possibly repeated iron injections, would provide more definitive information. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13028-018-0404-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. BioMed Central 2018-08-29 /pmc/articles/PMC6114706/ /pubmed/30157884 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13028-018-0404-6 Text en © The Author(s) 2018 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Research
Odden, Ane
Vatn, Synnøve
Ruiz, Antonio
Robertson, Lucy Jane
Enemark, Heidi Larsen
Nes, Silje Katrine
Tømmerberg, Vibeke
Stuen, Snorre
Excretion of Eimeria spp. oocysts in young lambs following iron supplementation
title Excretion of Eimeria spp. oocysts in young lambs following iron supplementation
title_full Excretion of Eimeria spp. oocysts in young lambs following iron supplementation
title_fullStr Excretion of Eimeria spp. oocysts in young lambs following iron supplementation
title_full_unstemmed Excretion of Eimeria spp. oocysts in young lambs following iron supplementation
title_short Excretion of Eimeria spp. oocysts in young lambs following iron supplementation
title_sort excretion of eimeria spp. oocysts in young lambs following iron supplementation
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6114706/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30157884
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13028-018-0404-6
work_keys_str_mv AT oddenane excretionofeimeriasppoocystsinyounglambsfollowingironsupplementation
AT vatnsynnøve excretionofeimeriasppoocystsinyounglambsfollowingironsupplementation
AT ruizantonio excretionofeimeriasppoocystsinyounglambsfollowingironsupplementation
AT robertsonlucyjane excretionofeimeriasppoocystsinyounglambsfollowingironsupplementation
AT enemarkheidilarsen excretionofeimeriasppoocystsinyounglambsfollowingironsupplementation
AT nessiljekatrine excretionofeimeriasppoocystsinyounglambsfollowingironsupplementation
AT tømmerbergvibeke excretionofeimeriasppoocystsinyounglambsfollowingironsupplementation
AT stuensnorre excretionofeimeriasppoocystsinyounglambsfollowingironsupplementation