Tuberculosis Statistics

DEFRA are proposing to change the way that the Bovine TB statistics are calculated and reported. Apparently the method they use at the moment is to compare the number of herds that have a breakdown and lose their Official TB Free status with the number of tests that are carried out throughout the country. They argue that this can give a distorted picture of the true events if more tests are carried out on clean herds as it will give the impression that the incidence of disease is declining. The system that they propose to use is to report the new herd breakdowns per 100 herd years at risk for a rolling twelve month period. They point out that this is a more complicated approach than the existing calculation and that non expert users will have difficulty understanding the new figures.

Local Figures

We all know Bovine Tuberculosis is a complicated disease. What is more relevant to us is what is happening locally. Last year there was a welcome lull in the number of infected herds in our area now the exact opposite is occurring and it is difficult to say that any progress is being made. If there is a change in the reporting method it will take some years before it is possible to say whether any progress is being made nationally to control the disease. I would have thought that even if the old method does have its faults we can use it at least to compare today with what has happened in the past. Having a new reporting method part way through the disease process will further add to the confusion.

Limited Progress

Last year the number of new herd incidents of Tuberculosis fell from 4,808 to 4,713 in England and Wales. This is not a lot to get excited about, it should have been better. Of more concern is the rise from 6,432 to 7,198 herd breakdowns in the North of England. Wales was doing well but has slipped back a bit now from 6,102 to 6,379 farms last year. The overall story is that things are broadly the same except that it is spreading north. It is still too early to tell if the intensive testing and badger vaccination policy in the edge areas is going to have any effect.

Resistant Fleas

Last year for the first time we started to get concerned that frontline, the once reliable spot on product we have used for more than twenty years on dogs and cats was on some animals not controlling the flea population as it used to. Frontline is not always the most appropriate product to use, but since it has gone onto the general sales list and is more widely available, more and more animals have been treated with it exclusively so resistance has been encouraged. Fortunately better products are now available and we can still control the fleas on dogs and cats.

Resistant Lice

On your farm it is the chewing louse that is the equivalent of the flea on your cattle. Research at the University of Bristol has revealed that this parasite now is becoming resistant to the commonly used pyrethroid drugs. Lice collected from cattle in Wales and Scotland where previous louse treatments had failed survived when they were exposed to 10,000 times what was thought to be the treatment dose. As yet there are no indications of resistance to the Ivomec type pour on preparations, the injections do not work so well against lice that chew. The most reliable way is to use the pour on preparations early in the winter when the cattle are first housed to treat them for external and internal parasites as well. Although there might seem to be several products available there is essentially just one drug to reliably treat lice on cattle now.

Lost Lambs

So far the Laboratory in Shrewsbury are reporting that they have been able to make a diagnosis in only about half of the samples taken in from aborting ewes. Of these 43% were found to have Enzootic Abortion and 23% were positive for Toxoplasmosis. Campylobacter was responsible for 12% of abortions and Listeria a further 7%.               This year there seems to be an increase in Toxoplasma in this area. This might partly be explained by problems with the vaccine last year. Although it is disappointing that diagnosis rate is still quite low it is worthwhile investigating initial losses as prompt treatments can sometimes reduce further losses

Fluke Treatments

Glasgow University has done a small fluke study involving sixty four beef animals when they were housed for the winter on straw yards and fed grass silage and concentrates. One quarter of the cattle had fluke eggs in their faeces. The animals were divided into four different groups, one group was left untreated the others were given one of three different fluke products to see which animals put on most weight after treatment. All of the animals were injected with Ivomec to alleviate the effects of any other parasites. It was found that the treated cattle had put on 20 Kgs more weight than the untreated controls during the four months period of the study. The point of interest is that there was no difference in the weight gain of the different treatment groups. For Dairy Cattle there are only two products licensed to treat fluke. Albendazole and oxyclozanide  are only effective against adult fluke from ten weeks of age. If you use these products once a year when your cows are dried off in the autumn they will reduce the numbers of fluke in the liver, but not eliminate them completely. Judging by this small study it will still be effective. As yet there have not been any confirmed cases of treatment resistance for fluke treatments in cattle. This is a bit strange as it is recognised widely now when sheep are treated and it is exactly the same parasite.

New Testing Arrangements

You will be aware that in England and Wales DEFRA has changed the way they delegate TB testing and Anthrax Investigations to Veterinary Practices. We will still be doing the work but they seem to think it will be more efficient now that we are working with delivery partners who are responsible for the administration. The plan was that there would be five different delivery partners for the different regions in England and the competitive tendering process has now come to a conclusion after more than two years. As it turns out all of the regions in England have been awarded to XL Farmcare for the next three years so there is little chance of seeing how different systems might work. There are supposed to be five entirely separate companies. To find out about them I looked on the internet first and discovered they all have exactly the same web site. Try to contact any of them by phone they are all use the same 0800 6125289 number. This is quite expensive if you use the mobile network.

Phone Us First

I am still not clear of all of the details but as I understand it from the beginning of May to book your test you will need to ring us first to arrange the dates and then ring XL Farmcare to say that you have orgainsed it. Hopefully in the course of time they will allow us to confirm when the testing will be carried out.              

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