Veterinary Services

• Ruminal acidosis in adult cattle associated with feeding frosted sugar beet.

• Bovine herpes virus-1 causes abortion in an Ayrshire dairy herd.
• Early cases of Streptococcus dysgalactiae arthritis in young lambs.
• Swine influenza due to pandemic H1N1 diagnosed in a five-month-old boar
• Review of coccidiosis diagnoses in game birds in Great Britain 2002 to 2010

Disease alerts

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

• Bovine Neonatal Pancytopaenia in young calves
• Nematodirosis in young growing lambs
• Enterotoxaemia due to Clostridium perfringens in lambs at grass
• Streptococcus dysgalactiae mastitis in ewes
• Rotavirus infection in pheasant chicks

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

February was a mostly mild, unsettled month across much of Scotland. Mean temperatures for the month were slightly above the 1971–2000 average. Significant rainfall was experienced across the southern half of the country with around 200% of the average being recorded in places including Fife, the Lothians and the Borders. The resulting wet conditions prevented many farmers from turning cattle outside. This, in conjunction with a short supply of straw, has seen numerous cases of neonatal calf disease associated with poor environmental conditions.