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Case Studies and Articles Latest |
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30 Jul 2019, 3:10 PM
A dairy farmer has been fined for chaotic record keeping that may have contributed to the spread of bovine tuberculosis on his premises. read more...
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13 Aug 2014, 1:18 PM
A young lad is forced to slaughter his pet cow because of the current bovine TB policy. read more...
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29 Mar 2014, 1:56 PM
A 33 year old farmer and father of two in Shrophsire was killed by a bull as he tested cattle for bTB. He was conducting routine bTB testing on cows at Ashwood Farm in Whitchurch on 3 December 2013 when he was fatally injured by a bull read more...
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13 Dec 2013, 6:47 PM
There is such a focus on badgers that the fact that bovine TB is a cattle based problem has been set on one side. History has shown us that the incidence of TB in cattle can be brought down to a very low level by cattle based measures alone. Add to this the vaccination of badgers in hot spot areas and even their implication can be dealt with. read more...
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9 Dec 2013, 6:08 PM
Looking at some of the anti cull websites and having kept a close eye on media reports during the trial culls that have recently finished in Gloucestershire and Somerset, it would seem that if the culling is rolled out into other areas the level of opposition is not going to get less and could even worsen, meaning that policing costs alone (paid for from public funds) are going to be exorbitant. read more...
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8 Nov 2013, 6:38 PM
This article is a summary of the significant legal proceedings relating to incidents re cattle and bovine TB. read more...
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7 Nov 2013, 8:20 PM
In this well researched article by Mike Rendle he poses this question: 'Are badger infections following, not leading, bovine TB infections in cattle? ' and discovers some very interesting facts about cattle, badgers and bovine TB. read more...
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30 Oct 2013, 9:18 AM
Bovine TB - the views of a farmer based on field-based observations over many years. Peter Aspin was a herdsman, then a dairy farmer. He is now a beef farmer and also has a contract rearing dairy heifers for a local farmer. He was conventional and is now organic. He also run the Shropshire Agroforestry Project. All on 40 acres. To understand bovine TB one must first understand how significantly livestock husbandry practices have changed in recent years. I was on a dairy farm a couple of years ago - a closed herd (one that reared all its own replacement youngstock) - which had had its first bTB breakdown. Two veterinarians had arrived to do the follow-up sixty day retest. Talking to them I asked what they thought was the source of the problem. Their immediate response was that the adjacent dairy farm had purchased imported cattle the previous year, this herd had subsequently developed bTB and passed the infection either directly or via a vector to the neighbouring herd. Whether the imported cattle were themselves carriers of bTB or whether they had no immunity, I do not know and I assumed the vets did not know but the issue of cattle importation is a major concern for both farmers and vets. Ever increasing numbers of dairy cattle are being imported simply because they are cheaper if large enough numbers are purchased. I know of a herd of over two thousand dairy cows where not a single replacement animal is home-reared, every single one arrives on a lorry from mainland Europe. read more...
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15 Sep 2013, 1:54 PM
Dairy farm worker, Steve Jones, is not happy about the future of the dairy industry, or the current policy to cull badgers. The industry has many problems. Bovine tuberculosis is just one.'The cattle industry is long overdue for reform', he says. Here he sets out his comments. read more...
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How many vets/testers follow the correct procedure for skin testing? |
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23 Apr 2012, 9:37 AM
We have received several comments from different farmers regarding the testing procedure and it is clear that the quality of testing varies considerably. Some farmers make formal complaints. However, we rarely get public reports regarding testing irregularities but we suspect cases are far more widespread than reported.
A rare case was reported in April 2102 in the Holyhead and Anglesey Mail (www.theonlinemail.co.uk/bangor-and-anglesey-news/local-bangor-and-anglesey-news/2012/04/18/anglesey-vets-pracice-banned-from- testing-for-bovine-tb-66580-30786655/). An Anglesey veterinary practice has been banned from testing for Bovine TB after it was found out it wasn’t conducting the process properly. The practice is the Gaerwen based vets Bennett-Williams which sent out letters to farmers and farming unions explaining the disruption to TB testing.
Cattle farmers who use the practice for TB testing have been told by Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to make alternative testing arrangements after an audit of TB testing procedures identified the problems.
To regain the right to deal with TB, vets at the practice will need to be re-trained.
An angry farmer told the Mail: “There are deadlines and legal requirements about testing that we as farmers need to meet.
“If this is not done right then it could put the whole TB control plan in jeopardy. We could believe that our cattle are healthy and then find that they have to be destroyed, which would put you out of business.”
A spokesman for the Animal, Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) part of government’s DEFRA department said: “Following an audit of TB testing procedures, which identified a failure to follow standard operating procedures, AHVLA has suspended a private veterinary surgeon working in North Wales from operating as a panel 1a (bovine TB testing) official veterinarian, pending re-training.
“Owners of cattle served by the suspended practice have been notified and advised to make alternative testing arrangements.”
The Mail apparently contacted the Bennett-Williams practise about the issue and was told they were too busy to comment.
How often is the correct procedure ignored? Certainly we are told of many such incidents where complaints are made and nothing appears to be done, including the ones we detail in the articles /case studies section of www.bovinet.co.uk, including the one set out in detail at www.bovinetb.co.uk/article.php?article_id=95
According to the latest news on the AHVLA (Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories) site a http://animalhealth.defra.gov.uk/about/official-vets/newsitems/index.htm the AHVLA has been working with a group of OVs, including representatives from the RCVS, BCVA and BVA, to produce a set of instructions for OVs on tuberculosis testing in cattle. Following a review cycle and a number of workshops the final set of instructions have now been signed off. The main changes in the instructions are:
Removal of the requirement to check movement records at the test.
Additional clarification on animal identification, actions on missing or added animals and unidentified or incorrectly identified animals during a test.
The requirements for measuring on day two, in particular that each injection site must be visually inspected and manually examined by careful palpation of the skin fold in the injection site area. Where there is any detectable reaction at either site, both sites must be re-measured with the same callipers used on day one.
A summary of skin test instructions can be found at the following sites:
http://animalhealth.defra.gov.uk/External_OV_Instructions/TB_Instructions/Skin_Test/index.htm
http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/atoz/tb/control/tuberculin.htm
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