Traumatic sheep myiasis: A review of the current understanding

Occurrence and Characteristics of Cut Injuries in Hedgehogs in Germany: A Collection of Individual Cases

“…The table contained the following columns with the following (categorical) content entries: Hedgehog identification number: xxx; Date (day of found): YYYYMMDD; Day of the week: Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday; Location: exact address or at least the postcode; Sex: male/female/reproducing female (means pregnant, lactating)/unknown; Age: adult (from the survival of the first hibernation, note: all animals found from January to May were always considered adult here)/juvenile (heavier than 100 g and before the first hibernation)/nestling (less than 100 g)/unknown (age was not reported or cannot be estimated from the reported information); Fate: euthanasia/died (during treatment or rehabilitation)/survived or released into the wild/unknown (this includes cases where no information was provided, but also all cases that are still open with regard to survival, e.g., still undergoing treatment); Characteristics of the wound: Size of the cut surface larger than 2 × 2 cm: yes/no/unknown (all cases were listed as “unknown” for which the photos did not allow a clear size estimation, as reference size objects—such as the fingers or hands of the treating person—were missing); Presence of maggots: yes/no/unknown; Presence of necrosis: yes/no/unknown; Presence of abscesses: yes/no/unknown; Bone damage (e.g., fractures, splintering): yes/no/unknown; Loss of body parts: yes/no/unknown; Age of the wound: <12 h (the injured animal was noticed during the accident and taken to the vet or no maggots or necrosis were recognisable on the wound or mentioned in the reports)/>12 h/already healed (cut wound is already scarred and overgrown)/unknown (all cases were classified here in which an assessment could not be clearly made on the basis of the photos and reports). This wound age estimate could be made “remotely” from photos and reports based on the knowledge that fly maggots need 8–12 h to hatch from the fly eggs even under ideal conditions [ 31 , 32 , 33 ], thus wounds with maggots had to be at least 8–12 h old. According to textbooks on wound healing processes in wild animals [ 34 , 35 ] and to personal reports on the duration of successful wound healing in hedgehogs from care stations, the age of wounds that have already healed can be estimated at around 1 week up to several months.…”

How Well Does Australian Animal Welfare Policy Reflect Scientific Evidence: A Case Study Approach Based on Lamb Marking

“…Mulesing was developed in Australia in the late 1920s by a grazier called John Mules. The procedure involves surgically removing the wool-bearing, wrinkled skin around the perineal region to enlarge the bare area of the breech and prevent the build-up faeces and urine in the wrinkles, thus reducing the risk of breech flystrike [ 20 , 68 ]. At the time of development, the Australian Merino sheep industry was struggling with a significant increase in flystrike-associated morbidity and mortality due to the breed’s wrinkled breech, favourable Australian weather conditions for flies, and the introduction of the fly Lucilla cuprina [ 20 ], which accounts for at least 90% of all strikes [ 69 ].…”

“…Differences in the Australian climate, wool industry, predominance of the Merino, and larger enterprises compared to the New Zealand wool industry have substantially delayed the phasing out of mulesing in Australia [ 72 ]. Nevertheless, Australian livestock industries are working towards phasing out mulesing through research into alternative ways of preventing flystrike, including breeding programmes to reduce wrinkle scores [ 21 , 68 ] and developing extension strategies to educate and support producers transitioning to non-mulesing operations [ 72 ]. Flystrike remains a major concern, and the risk of flystrike is expected to increase with the emergence of chemical resistance, limiting the efficacy of chemicals used for prevention and treatment [ 68 , 69 ].…”

“…Nevertheless, Australian livestock industries are working towards phasing out mulesing through research into alternative ways of preventing flystrike, including breeding programmes to reduce wrinkle scores [ 21 , 68 ] and developing extension strategies to educate and support producers transitioning to non-mulesing operations [ 72 ]. Flystrike remains a major concern, and the risk of flystrike is expected to increase with the emergence of chemical resistance, limiting the efficacy of chemicals used for prevention and treatment [ 68 , 69 ]. It has also been suggested that the distribution and abundance of the fly population may increase with climate change [ 68 ], thus increasing the risk of flystrike.…”

“…Flystrike remains a major concern, and the risk of flystrike is expected to increase with the emergence of chemical resistance, limiting the efficacy of chemicals used for prevention and treatment [ 68 , 69 ]. It has also been suggested that the distribution and abundance of the fly population may increase with climate change [ 68 ], thus increasing the risk of flystrike. This highlights the importance of continued support for research investigating flystrike prevention and treatment to foster a sustainable sheep and wool industry that is able to meet consumer demands and maintain the social license to operate [ 72 ].…”