Vaginal prolapse in sheep

Abstract

Extract

Prolapse of the vagina occurs as an accident in pregnant and non-pregnant females of many species. In sheep, however, under certain conditions, the disease assumes epizootic proportions, with its highest incidence during the terminal stages of the gestation period. Particularly is this so in New Zealand, where the incidence may reach 10 to 12 per cent, of the ewe flock, thus causing serious financial loss to the individual farmer. Its economic importance, however, depends more upon the small percentage of cases that occur annually over a large proportion of the whole population of breeding ewes, thus exacting a constant and appreciable toll on the entire sheep industry of this country. Since no infectious agent has yet been found to be constantly associated with it, the disease is regarded as non-infectious and is usually described as a displacement of the reproductive organs of obscure aetiology.