Inheritance of resistance to facial eczema: a review of research findings from sheep and cattle in New Zealand

Facial eczema (FE) is a costly problem to New Zealand pastoral agriculture, and has a detrimental impact on animal wellbeing. Incidence and severity of the disease can be reduced by grazing management and zinc prophylaxis. An additional strategy is to breed animals that are genetically resistant to intoxication with sporidesmin, the causative mycotoxin. This review summarises research findings on the inheritance of resistance of animals to FE, including evidence of among- and within-breed genetic variation, direct and correlated responses to selection, and identification of genetic markers and candidate genes for FE resistance.