Keep up to date with all our latest news, articles of interest, and case studies from the veterinary world around Hawke’s Bay.
Waipukurau After a slight increase due to warm rain a few weeks ago the counts have dropped again, and with cooler nights the spore counts are expected to remain in this mid-low zone. We still have some potential for warm weather for another month or so but it is the night-time temperatures that are needed…
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Hastings pasture spore counts – Week ending 19 February 2021 The majority of this week’s spore counts were in the 0,000-5,000 (low) range. The average count across the region were 6250, a slight lift on last week. One of the sites on Ocean Beach Road remained at 17,500. Spore counts match last year’s trend at…
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This week’s pasture spore counts – Week ending 12 February 2021 The majority of this Hasting’s spore counts were in the 0,000-5,000 (low) range this week. The average count across the region were 3330, and remains unchanged from the last 3 weeks. One of the sites on Ocean Beach Road remained at 15,000. Spore counts…
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Alpacas are very susceptible to the toxic effects of facial eczema spores and high risk periods occur during the summer and autumn. The spores, produced by the fungus Pithomyces chartarum, are broken down in the digestive tract releasing the sporidesmin toxin. The toxin is absorbed into the circulation and reaches the liver where it is…
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What is it? Facial eczema is a disease affecting sheep, cattle and alpacas, and is caused by a toxin called sporidesmin. Sporidesmin is produced by the spores of the fungus Pithomyces chartarum growing on pasture. The fungus grows in the base of pasture in warm moist conditions found at this time of year. When ingested…
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This week’s pasture spore counts – Week ending 14th May 2021 Regional average spore counts have dropped back to safe levels, and hotspots have also reduced significantly. It hard to see spore count climbing again now as nights are really cooling off. Trend graph of 2021 Regional Average Spore Counts compared with last year’s data.
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And just like that the spore counts have jumped back up! This is not surprising with the warmer nights over the past couple of weeks. Due to the autumn drought, animals are potentially grazing pasture at lower pasture residuals so there is still some risk to stock. The colder nights forecast for next week and…
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