Veterinary Services

• Outbreaks of respiratory disease commonly diagnosed in cattle as winter housing period starts.
• Only 27 outbreaks of systemic pasteurellosis in sheep compared with 42 in November 2006.
• Heavy mortality due to salt poisoning in grower and finisher pigs in a unit that fed "concentrated" whey.
• Abortion due to Bacillus licheniformis infection confirmed in a gilt.
• Mycobacterium microti, a cause of tuberculosis in rodents, isolated from a badger in Dumfriesshire.

General Introduction

The weather in Scotland was unsettled with temperatures well above average and sunshine below average. The mean temperature for the month was 6.0°C which is 1.7°C above the 1961 to 1990 average. The Scottish Government announced that some 90 per cent of claims for Single Farm Payment would be made in December. The SAC VS announced an initiative to waive the cost of the safe disposal of the carcase of an aborted calf when a blood sample from the affected cow was submitted along with the fetus for laboratory examination. This initiative was agreed with the Scottish Government to promote the investigation of causes of abortion in cattle herds. The SAC also advised livestock producers on planning their winter feeding strategies in the context of high feed prices. The advice is on the SAC website www.sac.ac.uk/news/currentnews/winterfeeding strategies.