Livestock diseases in communal grazing areas of the north eastern Free State, South Africa

Animal diseases are a major impediment of animal production programmes world-wide. In this paper we report on a five-year study into the livestock diseases in the north eastern Free State Province of South Africa. The study revealed that the most important ectoparasites of livestock are ticks, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus and Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi on cattle, sheep, goats and horses, and the red fowl mite Dermanyssus gallinae on free ranging chicken. The most important tick-borne diseases were reported to be bovine babesiosis, bovine and ovine anaplasmosis and theileriosis, and equine babesiosis. Most of these diseases are endemically stable in the north-eastern Free State. Other parasites studied were the helminths, which were found to have a more serious effect on small stock than large stock. The most important were Haemonchus in both cattle and small stock, Oesophagostomum in cattle and Bunostomum in small stock. Strongyloides were the most predominant parasite of horses. In free ranging chickens, Newcastle disease, infectious bronchitis and Mycoplasma gallisepticum infection were the most important diseases. The gastrointestinal protozoa, Eimeria was found in all animals but with low infestations. Other common infectious diseases reported in cattle include keratitis, pneumonia, lumpy skin disease, ephemeral fever and stomatitis.