Veterinary Services

• Salmonellosis due to S. Dublin and S. Typhimurium in cattle.
• Outbreaks of acute and chronic fasciolosis in sheep
• Investigation of a major outbreak of paralysis in pigs due to selenium toxicity
• Vent pecking and cannibalism in free range poultry
• Ethylene glycol poisoning confirmed in two cats

Disease alerts

The following conditions featured in the SAC C VS report for February 2009. Given similar climatic and management conditions, they could be important this year.

• Ill thrift related to parasitic gastroenteritis in cattle
• Plant poisoning due to Pieris species in sheep
• Penile and vulval lesions in sheep associated with ovine herpesvirus 2
• Necrotising epidermitis in pigs due to Staphylococcus chromogenes

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

November was generally a mild, wet month. Mean temperatures were around one degree Celsius above the thirty year average. Rainfall in the east of the country was 191 per cent of the same average, with the Scottish Borders being particularly wet and dull. Northern Scotland was sunnier and drier.

The Scottish Government announced improved payments to hill farmers under the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS). The aims of the LFASS are to maintain and promote sustainable farming systems and to ensure continued agricultural land use. SAC previously published a report “Farming’s Retreat from the Hills” highlighting reductions in livestock numbers from the Scottish hills.