Commodity watch by policy and technical graduate student Kayleigh Meek.
Everyone who works with livestock will be well aware that the past few months have seen unprecedented disease challenges across Northern Ireland, the UK, Europe and the world.
Notifiable disease updates
In January, the first case of Foot and Mouth disease in the European Union since 2011 was confirmed in a herd of water buffalo in Germany. This caused a lot of fear across the UK, as the agri-industry recalled the devastation of 2001 and we held our breath that the situation would not progress. Although all further surveillance testing has shown that the disease was likely contained, the detection of FMD in Germany highlights how important disease surveillance, vigilance and control can be.
Avian Influenza is continuing to be a problem within England, with over 25 confirmed cases in commercial flocks for the 2024/2025 season. Northern Ireland has seen the first confirmed AI cases in wild birds since September 2023, and all four devolved nations have been placed in AI prevention zones. The significant effects of Storm Eowyn have added insult to injury, increasing the risk of AI entering a flock due to damage to buildings and flooding.
On top of this, although DEFRA have announced that England are officially in a seasonally vector low period for Bluetongue (BTV-3), positive cases are still being confirmed across the country, with concerns that this will likely increase again in the coming spring. Farmers’ worries don’t stop there with African Swine Fever still a continuing threat to the pork industry and concerns over future decisions around Maedi Visna accreditation.
The above diseases that we have been facing are notifiable, meaning any suspected cases must be reported to government authorities by law. This allows authorities to monitor any disease outbreaks and quickly work to control the disease.
However, this sometimes means that other diseases can go unnoticed, transmitting quietly within the industry until it is too late.
Schmallenberg Virus
One important example of this is Schmallenberg Virus (SBV). Schmallenberg is a non-notifiable, non-contagious, viral disease which affects sheep, cattle, goats and deer. Infection is spread through biting midges, similar to BTV-3, with peak levels of midges generally observed in August and September.
The biggest concern with SBV is that in infected dams, the virus can cross the placenta and affect the unborn foetus. Infection of the foetus early in the pregnancy is likely to cause early embryonic death, and is generally seen as abortion or a high barren rate at scanning. Infection at a later stage during the pregnancy can lead to malformation of the foetus, including malformed limbs, twisted neck or spine and brain deformities.
There has been evidence of SBV infections across Northern Ireland sheep flocks during Autumn/Winter 2024, and farmers are reminded to be aware of the signs and symptoms associated with SBV as we enter into lambing and spring calving seasons. Usually, early lambing flocks are more likely to report losses due to SBV, however, as we have seen with BTV-3, midge levels remained high late into Autumn 2024. Late-spring lambing flocks and spring calving, must also stay vigilant to the disease.
Suspected cases of SBV should be reported to your vet. Intra-uterine infection with BTV-3 can cause similar brain deformities in calves and lambs and it is important to rule out any further disease risk.
