Members Update Tuesday 20^th October 2009

Moredun receives cash injection to commercialise CLA vaccine: Moredun Research Institute (MRI) scientists in Edinburgh have developed a new technology for producing vaccines for a range of livestock diseases. The first disease they are focusing their efforts on is caseous lymphadenitis (CLA), a bacterial infection of small ruminants especially sheep, it leads to production losses through low weight yield and contamination of meat and wool.

The new approach developed by Moredun scientists is expected to result in a more effective vaccine than those currently available globally. In addition, Moredun’s new vaccine will be a ‘marker’ vaccine which means that it will not interfere with the diagnosis of the disease in animals when using the diagnostic test previously developed by the institute. Another advantage of this new marker vaccine is that it will allow farmers and vets to differentiate between animals naturally infected with CLA and those previously vaccinated with the new CLA vaccine.

MRI have now secured funding from Scottish Enterprise, through their Proof of Concept Programme for a 2 year piece of work with a view to developing a commercial CLA vaccine for both the UK and global market.

 

France gets to Grips with Bluetongue Vaccination: The excellent news from France is that there have been a mere 67 cases of bluetongue in the country this year compared with over 32,000 reported cases in 2008. This really demonstrates that France has sorted the initial difficulties it had with the logistics of a mass vaccination campaign and as a result the disease has all but been knocked out of the French livestock industry. UK sheep farmers should draw great comfort from this news as it means that the barrier that now exists between UK and the movement of infection up through Europe is extremely robust.

The other good news from France on bluetongue is that the French government has agreed to fully fund a compulsory campaign of vaccination in 2010. This can only add to the level of protection that the UK will have in 2010 from this terrible disease. With no infection having been seen so far in 2009 and with this measure in place confidence is now growing that a major tragedy for the sheep industry has been avoided.

 

Within the UK debate is starting as to what should happen in 2010. In Scotland there is discussion around changing policy and not having a compulsory campaign next year. In England and Wales it is almost certain that any vaccination would be voluntary again and so there is a need to reignite the communications campaign to highlight to farmers the benefits of vaccinating once again. Whatever happens it must not be forgotten that this has been a major success story and that a frightening disease appears to have been kept at bay.

 

Fluke levels give serious cause for Concern: Vets and animal health advisers are reporting that the threat presented from liver fluke is at its highest level ever with unprecedented numbers of cases being reported  - many in areas where the disease has not been seen before. It is thought that warm temperatures and higher than average rainfall has encouraged snail populations to increase and accordingly this has led to a higher level of disease in both cattle and sheep. The advice is simple - treat and prevent the problem having first taken veterinary advice.

New Drench Family to come onto Market?: It is looking increasingly likely that a whole family of sheep worm drenches will be available in the UK in the coming months. These products are already available in New Zealand and it is thought that authorisation for use in the UK is being sought. This will be the first new drench active ingredient to have come onto the market since the Ivomection based products were introduced many years ago. With all three of the existing drench families suffering from varying degrees of resistance their effectiveness has been hampered in some areas. Indeed multiple resistance is not the rarity it once was.

At this stage it is not known whether the new drench will be a vet only prescription or not and it is difficult to predict what level of uptake there will be for the new product. However, although it will be very welcome news if a new drench family is made available it should not be used as a replacement for good management practise on worm control. Applying the principles of SCOPS (Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep) will be as important as ever as will taking faecal egg counts and establishing the nature of the worm burden on your farm.

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