According to the latest EBLEX report, farmers spend £3.50 per ewe on vet and medicines every year although there are few flocks where vaccination against commoner diseases would not prove to be financially beneficial.

However, there are some diseases producers should be considering though. Clostridial diseases remain a serious threat with death occurring within hours of bacterial multiplication. However, established vaccination programmes such as toxoid vaccines provide prevention against common clostridial diseases with vaccines four weeks apart followed by an annual pre-lambing vaccine. 

Pulpy kidney is also another concern, a problem which occurs in four to ten week-old lambs born to unvaccinated dams. It can also occur in weaned lambs from six months old which carry passively derived antibodies or where lambs themselves have not been vaccinated. Sudden death is the first major clinical sign.

Black disease can also be a cause for concern with the ever presence of liver fluke. Migration of immature liver flukes during late summer/early autumn cause black disease and it can affect unvaccinated sheep of all ages.

Another important one is pasteurella which can cause septicaemia in young lambs, pneumonia in older sheep and mastitis in ewes. Pasteurella can cause a great economic loss to producers and systemic pasteurellosis is the most common cause of sudden death in UK lambs between August and December according to EBLEX.

Whatever sheep markets do in 2013, disease prevention, especially clostridial disease prevention, is a cost that cannot be overlooked no matter how good or bad returns are.