What is Erysipelas arthritis?
Top Erysipelas arthritis is observed in newborn lambs, after marking/mulesing, or less commonly, post-dipping. The bacterium enters through a wound or via the umbilicus in newborn lambs. It then spreads throughout the body which may cause a fever, then localises within the joints. Affected joints become hot, swollen and painful. Lambs may initially appear stiff but later develop lameness, and have difficulty rising and walking. The knee, elbow, hock or stifle joints are most commonly involved. Whilst some lambs will recover over 2-3 weeks, up to 20% will sustain joint damage as a result, and have ongoing lameness. The disease can cause significant loss of production from poor weight gain and reduced wool production in lame lambs and failure to thrive in lambs with chronic arthritis.
