Leaflets highlight disease dangers

Leaflets highlight disease dangers

CATTLE and sheep diseases cost money to the whole food supply chain and one of HCC’s central industry development aims is to assist farmers in improving the health of their animals.

HCC has created a series of nine, up-to-date and informative leaflets highlighting herd and flock health planning.

They are published to coincide with the Royal Welsh Show, and all come with a simple sheet for farmers to record any of the health issues that have occurred on their farms, any action they plan in response to the diseases and any other decisions that need to be made to eradicate or improve the disease in the herd and flock.

The set of nine health leaflets put the spotlight on abortion, clostridial disease, IBR, joint Ill, lameness, leptospirosis, pneumonia, scouring and watery mouth and vaccination.

Most of these illnesses, diseases or conditions can be expensive and serious for the farmer – for instance, even a five per cent abortion rate can reduce potential gross margin by 10%. And in the case of pneumonia, even a 2% mortality rate can reduce potential gross margin by 10%.


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These are just two of the profit-damaging conditions that can erode prices – and the leaflets look at seven other hazards.

Leptospirosis, the main cause of disease in cattle in Wales, is an infectious and contagious bacterial disease; Clostridia is a group of spore-forming organisms found in the soil which can cause a series of serious and even fatal diseases.

Vaccination is important to successful flock management, but incorrect or careless injection techniques produce abscesses that have to be cut away in the slaughterhouse causing financial losses to the producer – losses that are hard to assess because most never see the carcass mutilation that is necessary to remove vaccination abscesses from high-priced areas.

A few countries are now close to eradication of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis and herds may soon have to prove that they are free from IBR in order to gain access to export markets.

If you would like find out more about this series, contact HCC on 01970 625050.

Gwyn Howells is chief executive of the Welsh meat promotion authority Hybu Cig Cymru

source:icwales.icnetwork.co.uk