Video clips showing sheep circling in China and Jordan raised questions, while interpretations of the phenomenon varied.
Explained toNews 24Former dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at King Faisal University in Al-Ahsa, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology, Dr. Nasser Al-Hamam said the animals spin around due to a bacterium known as ” Listeria”.
He added that bacteria multiply in an environment that contains decaying plant materials, as well as due to dust, water, fertilizer and forage, and with a sudden change in weather and feeding system, as well as poor sanitation, stress, pregnancy advance and feed the sheep on the ground.
He pointed out that the signs usually appear 8-9 days after infection, indicating that there are two forms of the disease that appear in sheep, which are jitteriness and abortion.
Al-Hamam pointed out that the neurological form can affect any breed, at any age, and is often caused by the animal spinning in a circular motion, with its head tilted, refraining from feeding or by its death.
Farmers advised their animals infected with this disease to keep them away from the possible source of transmission of the virus, such as forage, along with the cleaning of water basins and feeding.
Al-Hamam revealed that King Faisal University Veterinary Hospital had previously received many cases with the same disease and symptoms.
And the video clips showed the rotation of cattle around each other in China, Jordan and many other countries, while the Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture explained that this behavior is just a maternal behavior to look for her newborns in the barn after have returned from their pastures.
After having circulated video clips from all over the world.. explains a specialist #news24 #cattle_rotation_phenomenon around each otherhttps://t.co/83ZWWS06T7 pic.twitter.com/rHtUhWbqQe
– News 24 (@Akhbaar24) December 5, 2022
