Facial Eczema warning

GIPPSLAND dairy farmers are being urged to keep a close check on conditions that could lead to a facial eczema outbreak in late summer and autumn.

Facial Eczema is a liver condition caused by cows eating a fungal spore that grows in pasture litter during warm and moist weather.

With little or nothing that can be done to prevent the fungus developing, preventative measures are vital to stop outbreaks among dairy herds.

GippsDairy and Dairy Australia have recognised the need for increased vigilance against facial eczema outbreaks and have developed a swift response system to alert farmers of danger signs.

A series of 23 sentinel farms have been established across Gippsland to help monitor spore levels.

Farms from Yannathan in West Gippsland down to Yanakie in the south and across to Bengworden in the east are the front-line in the battle against the disease.

Weekly spore counts from each property are posted on the Dairy Australia website, with local farms easily located through a clickable map.

Maffra veterinarian Dr Jakob Malmo, who has been instrumental in leading the battle against facial eczema, said the spore monitoring program was vital in minimising the harm caused by the fungus.

It's a good news story that Dairy Australia and GippsDairy are supporting the monitoring project, because if they didn't do it, it wouldn't be done, he said.

Dr Malmo said it was crucial that farmers were aware of spore counts (20,000 per gram is the danger level) in their local area and were prepared with a proper zinc supplement regime, which is the only known prevention for the condition.

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Facial Eczema warning