The first blowfly strike this spring has been reported on a farm near Kingsbridge in Devon, where maggots were found on a ewe on Wednesday, April 21st.
Blowfly strike remains the main health concern for sheep over the summer, affecting approximately 750,000 sheep in the UK each year on around 80% of farms, and at this time of year the lamb crop can become particularly susceptible.
During the early stages, the maggots, which are approximately 1.5cm long, are only visible end-on when the wool is parted, but as the disease progresses the wool falls out to reveal the underlying affected tissue.
"Flystrike is a major welfare concern and an important cause of ill thrift in affected animals. It has a negative impact on lamb growth rates and ewe fertility, due to reduced feed intake in affected animals," explains the National Animal Disease Information Centre (NADIS).
"Prevention is the key to the control of blowfly," says Novartis Animal Health Veterinary Advisor Simon Harris MRCVS. "Proactive, early treatment with a blowfly preventative is the best way to protect your lamb crop from the risk of strike. The sooner you treat the flock, the less opportunity you allow the blowfly population to build up and, therefore, the less strike you see."
If left unprotected, SCOPS estimates that around 80% of flocks will have one or more strike events through the season according to DEFRA research. Insect growth regulators (IgRs), such as CLiK™, stop fly larvae developing and offer the longest period of protection, specific to blowfly.
CLiK binds to the fleece by locking into the wool grease on a wool fibre, using Fleecebind technology which, combined with the potency of its active ingredient dicyclanil, provides 16-week protection to last the full fly season.
