Investigations into “cockle”, a skin disease of sheep

Abstract

The possible involvement of moulds in the aetiology of New Zealand scatter cockle has been investigated by comparing the total mould counts and individual species counts from fleeces of cockled and uncockled animals. Cockled animals tended to have lower fleece mould counts than uncockled animals but this effect seemed more related to the treatment of uncockled animals (plunge-dipping, tip spraying, or showering). Counts in both cockled and uncockled groups varied with time of sampling; they were lowest in June-July and highest in December. Ofthe 28 moulds isolated, most were randomly present in animals from all groups and none seemed associated with cockle development, These findings do not support earlier suggestions that fungi could be involved in the development of cockle on susceptible skins.