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Laryngeal chondritis, or “Texel throat”, is a disease affecting the upper respiratory tract of sheep with breeds like the Texel appearing to be predisposed. Previous work suggests the conformation of these breeds of sheep may be predisposing these animals to laryngeal disease. This study evaluated the anatomy of the Texel sheep larynx and describes incidental pathology. Forty-three larynges from rams of the Texel and Bluefaced Leicester breeds of sheep were measured and photographed. A larynx from each breed was submitted for computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Measurements, photography, CT, and MRI demonstrated a difference in the anatomy of the larynx between breeds and a higher proportion of Texel sheep had laryngeal lesions. This study supports the hypothesis that the anatomy of the Texel sheep could be pre-disposing the breed to laryngeal chondritis.

Sporadic occurrences of neurodegenerative disorders including neuroaxonal dystrophy (NAD) have been previously reported in sheep. However, so far no causative genetic variant has been found for ovine NAD. The aim of this study was to characterize the phenotype and the genetic aetiology of an early-onset neurodegenerative disorder observed in several lambs of purebred Swaledale sheep, a native English breed. Affected lambs showed progressive ataxia and stiff gait and subsequent histopathological analysis revealed the widespread presence of axonal spheroid indicating neuronal degeneration. Thus, the observed clinical phenotype could be explained by a novel form of NAD. After SNP genotyping and subsequent linkage mapping within a paternal half-sib pedigree with a total of five NAD-affected lambs, we identified two loss-of-function variants by whole-genome sequencing in the ovine PLA2G6 gene situated in a NAD-linked genome region on chromosome 3. All cases were carriers of a compound heterozygous splice site variant in intron 2 and a nonsense variant in exon 8. Herein we present evidence for the occurrence of a familial novel form of recessively inherited NAD in sheep due to allelic heterogeneity at PLA2G6. This study reports two pathogenic variants in PLA2G6 causing a novel form of NAD in Swaledale sheep which enables selection against this fatal disorder.

Background Transthoracic ultrasonography (TTUS) is currently the only widely used method to diagnose preclinical or subclinical ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (OPA) in the live sheep. However, little is known about the test characteristics of TTUS. Methods One thousand and seventy‐four breeding ewes in a flock with evidence of low OPA prevalence underwent TTUS by an experienced operator. Fifty‐one sheep were diagnosed with OPA and underwent gross postmortem examination (PME). Results Lesions consistent with OPA were found in only 24% (12/51) of the culled ewes. Thirty‐five percent (18/51) of culled ewes had gross lesions consistent with other pulmonary disease and 41% (21/51) had no detectable gross lesions on PME. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry confirmed OPA in only the 12 animals identified with OPA lesions from PME. Conclusion Great caution should be exercised when deciding if TTUS is an appropriate screening test in groups of sheep where OPA prevalence may be anticipated to be low. TTUS is a subjective test and thus individual operator ability will influence the sensitivity and specificity of TTUS for OPA diagnosis while the underlying prevalence influences the eventual positive predictive value.