Animal Health News

Having an effective cleaning and disinfection programme is essential in modern calf house management, to reduce the risk of disease. Evans Vanodine provides advice on a controlled disinfection programme.

After the first human case of H5 avian flu was detected in the UK, Farmers Guide spoke to virologist Dr Phillip Gould about this rare species jump, and what farmers should be aware of as H5N1 cases escalate in UK birds.

New cases of H5N1 have been confirmed in Lincolnshire, Cumbria and Berkshire so far this month, as well as a number of new confirmed cases over Christmas and New Year.

With risk of tick-borne diseases changing as new seasonal and geographical patterns emerge, Ruminant Health and Welfare (RH&W) has brought together a new online resource to help farmers and vets to tackle these diseases.

Farmers planning to turn sheep and cattle onto fodder beet this winter are being encouraged to vaccinate stock against clostridial diseases before giving them access to the crop.

With 80% of Johne’s disease infections occurring within the first month of life, the growing threat of Johne’s in the UK is encouraging significant numbers of dairy farmers to offer bespoke colostrum replacements to newborn calves.

As recent research suggests lameness-related issues and endemic infectious disease continue to be the key factors affecting production efficiency on cattle and sheep farms, livestock editor Sarah Kidby spoke to farm vets for their views on health trends from 2021, and advice for the coming year.

Last year, Adrian Bland of Ninezergh Farm began taking steps to tackle increasingly high somatic cell counts in his 120-cow milking herd. Just over a year on, he took part in a recent AHDB webinar to explain the farm’s progress.

The UK is facing its most significant avian influenza risk to date.

A grant is available for award-winning ozone disinfection technology that promises to offer a safer, more effective and more environmentally friendly solution – with benefits for milk quality, mastitis rates and money-saving.

Defra has confirmed more cases of highly pathogenic H5N1 in Lincolnshire and South Derbyshire, as well as new outbreaks elsewhere in the UK.

While the risk of liver fluke remains low for much of the UK this season, livestock farmers need to keep their guard up again in what is becoming a less predictable parasite challenge. That is the warning from the Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) and Control of Cattle Parasites Sustainably (COWS) groups as we head into winter.