The high counts go against the trend over the past three years where readings generally begin to fall at the end of March.
Spore count readings collated by Gribbles Veterinary since late March showed most districts from Northland, south to Waikato and the central lower North Island were in a six-digit number when taken at the highest reading.
The highest readings this month were taken from farms in South Waikato and Waipa, which hit 1,056,660 spores/gram and 1,500,000 spores/g respectively.
Samples taken from the Franklin and Rodney districts earlier this month were also extremely high at 620,000 spores/g and 460,000 spores/g.
The threshold for farmers to take preventative action against the effects of FE is 30,000 spores/g.
The disease is caused by sheep and cattle eating pasture containing the fungus Pithomyces chartarum, which thrives in warm, humid conditions when combined with dead litter in pasture.
Once in the rumen, the spores from this fungus release a mycotoxin sporidesmin, which then enters the bloodstream, eventually finding its way into the liver.
The toxin specifically attacks the cells of the bile duct resulting in the liver being unable to process and excrete waste products and phylloerythrin, a chlorophyll breakdown product.
WeatherWatch analyst Philip Duncan says the high counts this late into April was due to a wetter, warmer and more humid weather, thanks in part to an increase in sub-tropical and northerly airflows and an uptick in rainmakers, showers and drizzle.
“This week is another bad week for facial eczema, with a Tasman Sea low moving in and pulling down sub-tropical air for a time over the upper North Island,” Duncan said.
“Overnight lows will be in the mid-teens (15-16 degrees) across the upper North Island for the next couple of nights, along with isolated downpours, low clouds and some drizzle patches. Daytime weather will be mild and often cloudy.”
Duncan says there is no immediate cold snap on the way for northern NZ despite cooler temperatures later this week.
