Veterinary Services

• Review of veterinary Salmonella isolates in Scotland during 2009

• More cases of bovine neonatal pancytopaenia (bleeding calf syndrome)
• Many outbreaks of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis
• Parasitic disease common in sheep due to Trichostrongylus, Nematodirus and Fasciola hepatica
• Streptococcus suis infections in pigs associated with serotypes 2 and 3
• Suspect cyanide poisoning in waxwings

Disease alerts

The following conditions featured in the SAC C VS report for February 2010. Given similar climatic and production conditions, they could also be important this year.

• Bovine foetopathy due to Neospora, Campylobacter, Listeria and Aspergillus.
• Pregnancy toxaemia in pregnant ewes.
• Acute and chronic fasciolosis the most frequent diagnoses in sheep.
• Listerial encephalitis in hogs associated with silage feeding during a period of heavy snow.
• Meningitis in pigs due to Haemophilus, Streptococcus and Pasteurella.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Areas of low pressure moving across Scotland from the Atlantic during the first three weeks brought plenty of rain and strong winds at times. Much colder weather with some significant snowfalls was seen in the last week, especially in eastern Scotland. Overall, the mean temperature was around two degrees Celsius below the thirty year average, being the coldest November since 1985.
The Scottish Government announced proposals to tackle wildlife crime by making employers responsible for their employees’ illegal poisonings. SAC C VS urged farmers who sell breeding sheep to join the Maedi Visna (MV) Accreditation Scheme, as the disease becomes more common in non-accredited flocks. A review of the operation of the scheme over the last 10 years found that the potential for contact with non-accredited sheep presented the greatest risk to the status of accredited flocks.  

SALMONELLOSIS IN SCOTLAND 2009

During 2009 the Scottish Salmonella Reference Laboratory (SSRL) received 253 isolates of veterinary origin for confirmation and detailed typing. These isolates included all those isolated at SAC C VS Disease Surveillance Centres as a result of scanning surveillance.  Figure 1 (see top right-hand side) shows the animal source and serotype of 245 of the isolates. Most isolates were from cattle (40 per cent), followed by sheep (17 per cent), pigs (13 per cent) and birds other than poultry (12 per cent). The most frequently isolated serotypes from cattle were Salmonella Dublin (36 per cent of all isolates) and S. Typhimurium, continuing a similar situation in 2007 and 2008.  The number of isolates from a veterinary source has declined steadily from 2006 when there were 416 (a reduction of 39 per cent). Of note is the sustained decline in reports of Salmonella Enteritidis (Only two reports in 1999, no reports in the years 2006 to 2009, compared to 178 in 1998).