High mortality in Leccese inbred lambs

The following investigation arose out of the observation of a high mortality rate in lambs belonging to a “closed” flock of Leccese sheep reared in Apulia region. The most common cause of death in the flock (34 out of 42 lambs) was enterotoxaemia caused by Clostridum perfringens. Due to the high inbreeding level in this population, the aim of this study was to determine whether inbreeding in Leccese lambs decreases their resistance to clostridial enterotoxaemia. All the animals were initially grouped into two classes (outbred, inbred) on the basis of their inbreeding coefficient. The percentage of dead lambs in outbred class was significantly different if compared to that found in inbred class (7.14% vs. 71.43% respectively, P < 0.001). No significant difference was observed by comparing animals with different inbreeding coefficient (F < 10% vs. F≥10%).