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Practical actions livestock farmers can take to reduce Bluetongue risk
Bluetongue prevention
I was talking recently with Jack Warner who looks after 600 or so dairy cows, plus followers, some sheep, and is a man who keeps very much up to date with the industry.
"Bluetongue hasn't come on to the radar as yet," he confessed. "I think we had a Defra leaflet, but can't really remember much about it, and certainly am not all that certain what I should be looking for - but I know it's not a blue tongue!"
Official information is bland and general
It's not perhaps surprising the Defra leaflet made little impact. The list of symptoms are very unspecific viz:Clinical signs in cattle: It is possible that cattle will show no signs of illness, however clinical signs have included:
• Nasal discharge. • Swelling of the neck and head, especially around the eyes and muzzle. • Conjunctivitis (red and runny eyes). • Swelling inside and ulceration of the mouth. • Swollen and/or reddened teats and vulva. • Tiredness. • Lameness. • Saliva drooling out of the mouth. • Fever.
It reads like it's been written by a lawyer rather than someone wanting to advise farmers of a disease that's of potential danger to the whole herd or flock. It stresses that there's no danger to human health; that it can't be transmitted directly between animals; that vaccination for bluetongue serotype 8, the strain currently in circulation, will be produced by Intervet and that "livestock keepers will be given the opportunity to purchase vaccine from the bank". Advice is to monitor stock carefully, phone the Animal Health Office immediately there's a suspect, enlist the help of your vet, and use the vaccine when it's available. Compared with Foot and Mouth or BSE, Bluetongue looks like a walk in the park!
As ever, important facts are couched in terms alien to those who need to interpret them. Here's an extract from the bluetongue-info web site which has the job of conveying information to those who need to know:
"The epidemiology of BTV is closely related to the biology of the vector. It is therefore a seasonal disease generally observed in late summer and early autumn. Virus transmission begins in the early spring with the onset of insect flight activity and continues until the first hard frosts.
In most Culicoides species the lifecycle is poorly understood. The midges breed in moist conditions in a variety of habitats, particularly damp, muddy areas and in faecal and plant matter. During summer the development from egg to adult takes 3-4 weeks. It seems that some larvae and pupae are able to overwinter in protected breeding places."
More Bluetongue facts
Last year, in northern Europe, bluetongue cost over £95 million in direct losses alone. A major 2008 outbreak could bring huge hardship both to directly affected farmers and, if vaccination coverage is poor, to those living in neighbouring movement restriction zones. It's estimated the virus has already claimed 1.8 million animals in less than 10 years. Bluetongue can cause severe losses in sheep. Vets says up to 70% of affected flocks can die.
Virus transmission between animals occurs when a midge bites an infected animal and passes the infection to an uninfected one. Transmission of the virus during an outbreak therefore depends on continuing cycles of infection between infected animals and vector insects.
Sensible advice
It's clear that Bluetonue is a significant threat, and capable of causing major damage to any livestock farm. Vaccination, when available, will, if the scientists are to be believed and Intervet, which will make many £millions from the programme, gets the technology right.
At the Royal Show I spoke to vet Rebecca Fawcett from Market Drayton, who is also a farmer's wife.
She talked about midges as much as vaccination.
*Reducing midge numbers, by getting rid of their favourite breeding sites such as muck heaps and stagnant ponds will reduce numbers.
*Grazing cattle away from these places, particularly when the midges are about - early morning and in the evening - when they bite you - might be possible. Dairy cows could graze windier exposed fields at night and the lower tying meadows during the day when the midges are asleep.
*She also talked about controlling flies on livestock. Fly control is shown to improve performance in both meat and milk, helps reduce disease, and makes animals easier to handle. If it also reduces midge activity and the likelihood of biting which as we have seen is the way Bluetongue is transmitted, here's another good reason to use some fly control.
* Use a licensed insecticide such as pour-on deltamathrin.
Butox SWISH is the only licensed pour-on with trial data showing it is
effective against midges - but that doesn't mean it's the only one which will work... it's the only one with trial data.
*Readers of Practical Farm IDEAS need to look at page 11 of issue 17-1 (Spring 2008) to see an effective home made machine which combines a back scratcher with an insecticide applicator which makes a tea-cup full of Spot-On go a very long way. An Introductory subscription (£16.99 in UK) includes this issue.
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