With there being tall feed appearing around the state, the risk of pinkeye is still seeming to be active, with eye patches being evident in paddocks and the infection being a hot topic around the weaner sales earlier this year.
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Producers are reminded that the earlier the treatment of the bacteria, the better the recovery for the beast and the less long term effects on the animal.
Local Land Services Gundagai area veterinarian Dr Kristy Stone said there can sometimes be the misconception that pink eye in cattle will resolve on its own, but that is not the case.
"Cattle pink eye is quite aggressive and needs intensive treatment if it gets really bad," Dr Stone said.
"But if it's early just some cream might be okay.
Dr Stone said that the early stages of pink eye effecting the eye is watery discharge, there might be some cloudiness of the eye, with symptoms then progressing quickly to swollen eyeball, with a yellow centre and then potentially the animal could become blind.
With the main period of infection being over spring and summer, while the main contributor of the infection being spread is flies, which land on the infected eye and move from animal to animal spreading the bacteria.
"It needs treating with antibiotics as it is caused by bacteria, the earlier it is treated the better the outcome," Dr Stone said.
"Scar tissue can develop regardless of treatment in really severe cases and occasionally it won't heal and they would need to consider removing the eye in really extreme cases.
Dr Stone said that the scar tissue itself could be an issue for routine events such as the sale of the animal, especially as the infection mainly occurs in younger animals, it results in the beast carrying the scar tissue throughout their life time.
This can then lead to potential set backs for the animals, even if they are kept for breeding, such as lack of weight gain, which is associated with having the sore eye.
Causes of the infection are mainly influenced by irritation from dust, grazing paddocks that have a lot of thistles in them, tall stubble potentially, or other objects that may cause abrasion to the eye and allow the bacteria to set in will be the risk factors.
The illness is related to the health status of the animal, hence why it is seen for frequently in younger stock, as their immune systems are still developing and they are at a stage where they are more susceptible to stress, lowering their immune system.
As for when it comes to treating the infection, Dr Stone said that the most successful way is by treating the eye with a topical cream in the eye such as Orbenin, which is available through a vet, or alternatively the oxytetracycline hydrochloride aerosol spray, which is available from rural stores.
However depending on the severity of the infection the animal may need pain relief and injectable antibiotics.
"Covering the eye is a good idea, I try and encourage people to put a patch on the eye," Dr Stone said.
"Excluding sunlight will benefit the recovery greatly and it's a lot easier to do it seems.
"If you've got them into to treat them with cream, it's not too much more to patch them and they really do recover a lot quicker and a lot better in my opinion."
Dr Stone said that there is also a vaccine on the market as a preventative against pink eye at the beginning of the season, which protects against three strains of pink eye, advising that it be best to talk with your local vet on whether it may be suitable for your herd.
As for recovery time, it depends on the severity of the animals condition, with minor cases resolving is as little as three to five days, but with severe cases potentially taking weeks, with the chance that the eye may never recover.
Dr Stone advised that producers should avoid yarding their stock for general husbandry practices while a pink eye out break is active throughout the herd.
"Essentially need to find ones to treat so don't avoid yarding for that, but also don't get in to the yards them unnecessarily."
As for areas further north in the state, vets have also seen a rise in cases with the rain settling conditions for the infection,
Veterinarian Dr Matt Harris, Coolah Veterinary clinic, said producers have been adopting more preventative methods this year in preparation for the forecasted hot summer, with the weaners and early weaned calves the most effected.
"I think people are a lot more aware of it these days and people are a lot more proactive in preventing it to start with," Dr Harris said.
"By minimising dust and using fly traps when weaning can definitely decrease the amount of pink eye producers deal with and also vaccinating for it.
"We saw a higher use of the vaccine than we have the last few years."
