Club Lamb Fungus continues to plague the show lamb industry. Lambs succumb to club lamb fungus when they are exposed to the fungus and we have eliminated the lambs natural defenses. What are the lamb’s natural defenses to fungal infections? First of all is the wool itself. Wool and the oil in the wool serve as a protective defense to the skin. A sheep with a full coat of wool will have dry skin, even in a pouring rain storm. Slick shearing removes this defense. Frequent washing removes the oil and naturally sloughing skin cells that provide additional defense. The next big defense is the immune system. Immune cells in the skin play a substantial role in preventing exposure from turning into an infection. Lambs on restricted diets to maintain or lose weight or lambs on severe non-ruminant diets are severely stressed and thus will not have a normal functioning immune system. Furthermore, transportation to multiple shows increases the level of stress on the lambs. Lastly, consider the environment that the lamb is in. Wood partitions are a porous material which will allow fungus to survive for months to years. Is the environment free to contamination from sheep carrying fungus and are the sheep protected against summer heat stress?
Even if precautions are taken, invariably if you go to enough shows you will come home with fungus. Treatment with a variety of different topical antifungals and disinfectants have all shown some value. Everything from topical iodine, chlorhexidine, miconazole, athlete’s foot sprays and over-the-counter human antifungal products have worked.
