The virus has landed. Coming to a farm near you soon.

greysides

Reports of lamb deformities in the County Wexford now to go along with the initial diagnosis from a deformed calf born a couple of months ago. Serological evidence of exposure in cattle also, as would be expected.

greysides

A report from a flock in the SW of the UK:

This is an update from my friend who had the Schml.v storm in December:

84 ewes went to the ram in June/July

40 who were marked by rams once only, proved not to be in lamb and were served again in September when rams went in with spring lambing ewes

44 in lamb with 8 left to lamb

of 36 who have lambed so far 21 had Schmallenburg lambs all but one stillborn.

Lost two ewes after the struggle to get deformed lambs off even after loads of antibiotics etc. And the tally so far:


15 ewes with 24 lambs

2 had one twin with Schmallenburg, the other twin OK.

So maybe just over 30 lambs (when all have lambed) instead of 120-130 as normal for the late autumn lambing group. Hopefully the 40 who returned, will lamb in spring so they're not a total loss but cash flow severely disrupted.

Financial loss = not going to work that out far to depressing

Other experiences:

So far I have lambed 15 ewes and currently have 14 live lambs, One of which appears to have SBV related knee problems.
This figure has been boosted by 3 sets of twins lambed today. One of those sets was a triplet where the one had SBV and died, and another has slightly deformed knee joints (legs bowed rather than at right angles like the chronic cases)
Up until today I had 12 ewes lambed, with only eight singles surviving.

Don't know if anyone else has found this, but the doubles seem to be affected more than the singles (all singles have so far been healthy) and in the multiple births, one lamb is often healthy and normal, with the other lamb either stillborn or showing deformities.

Two of the early doubles (scanned) also only produced healthy singles but had thick smelly afterbirth which may have been either an aborted lamb or one that had been reabsorbed.

I don't think anybody has had much in the way of deformed lambs that are viable. With us they are born dead or die almost immediately - there has been the odd one we have had to dispose of but there is no way they would have come to anything if we had of tried. We did have one that kept falling over but he kept going and we thought he would make it - he left the individual pen after a couple of weeks and made it into the big bunch where we would put him upright perhaps once a day at most so thought we had won with him but one morning he was stretched out dead. I also know of a few other people who have thought they had made it with a few mildly deformed one's only to find them going downhill and then having to get rid of them.

valtra2

started calving last wed first calf and no prob ok, second calf next day born dead no deforamities, next day cow aborted calf seven months gone no deforamities, next day calf born ok but missing some hair off head but all rest ok, last night another cafl ok no problams, two calfs gone to lab hopefully just a bad coincidence but have been hearing bad reports of lots of deformed lambs in the local area, sbv? will fill you in on anymore info when i hear from lab, in south east, last year 0% mortality on calfs before 28 days, 50 cow herd,

topgeas

calf just born alive .10 days before time. he has deformed head, no top part in his mouth. on wed had a dead 1 as well. vet calling in morning.

greysides

Valtra2, thanks for posting. With most information on SBV being extrapolated from Akabane Disease or just recently experienced, the experiences of people 'in the field' are the best source of info, once SBV has been confirmed. This is why I'm posting quotes from a UK forum.

greysides

topgeas wrote: »

calf just born alive .10 days before time. he has deformed head, no top part in his mouth. on wed had a dead 1 as well. vet calling in morning.

A shortened lower jaw is amongst the known consequences of SBV. It can of course be caused by non-SBV causes, as it was in the past, but it is suspicious.

It would seem the SE and S coastal counties are being affected. Any experience more inland?

larrywithalorry

Pics from a friend in Wexford.
They have lost about a third of da lambs so far

(First time putting up pics so bear with me

pakalasa

The Farmer's Journal lists all the confirmed cases this week. Mostly in the Cork, Kilkenny, Wexford & Waterford counties.

greysides

Thanks Palalasa, I found two links when I went looking.

http://www.farmersjournal.ie/site/farming-Cattle-virus-hits-Cork-15934.html

http://www.farmersjournal.ie/site/farming-Rise-in-number-of-Schmallenberg-virus-reports-in-Co-Wexford-16236.html


I'm not sure about two comments made:

* that protective immunity after exposure is life long. That is still up in the air.

* that only a % of animals in a herd/flock may be infected. I think it's more like 100%.

If memory serves, the disease continued to spread slowly in the UK over last winter before taking off once temperatures rose.

Min

It is a real concern with the calving season either under way or most yet to start.

I see on the IFJ that the British expect to have a vaccine in time for the breeding season.

topgeas

speaking with a neighbour. he had 2 or 3 deformed lambs last week.

Lastin

How is SBV traveling so fast/far when BTV did not cross the irish sea, both midge borne ?

greysides

Vaccination in the UK managed to contain the virus to the SE. SBV is present in Wales and the SW of England.

Min

It will be a popular vaccine here, hope it doesn't cost too much, but it would potentially save a lot of money.

AntrimGlens

greysides wrote: »

Vaccination in the UK managed to contain the virus to the SE. SBV is present in Wales and the SW of England.

As far as i know no vaccine has yet been approved never mind administered in england, the only reason the disease was contained to the SE was that this was the limits that the midge could fly before infecting and dying. I stand to be corrected?

Lastin

I presume what greysides means is a buffer zone of animals vaccinated for the btv was able to stop the disease spreading further than the midge born disease could travel.

greysides

AntrimGlens wrote: »

As far as i know no vaccine has yet been approved never mind administered in england, the only reason the disease was contained to the SE was that this was the limits that the midge could fly before infecting and dying. I stand to be corrected?

We were talking about Bluetongue and it's vaccine and why BT never reached us. There was a much more urgent push to get the BT vaccine up and running, the disease being Notifiable and having trading consequences. There were already BT vaccines in production for other serotypes so it was easier to get a vaccine up and running.

This time there has been less urgency with the development of a vaccine as it has been viewed as a disease of limited impact especially once all animals have been exposed.

AFAIK, a vaccine has gone forward for approval.


Once a midge infects an animal, the animal becomes viraemic (virus multiplies in the animal and is present in it's blood) so other midges can become 'infected' from that animal and pass it along.

tanko

greysides wrote: »

Vaccination in the UK managed to contain the virus to the SE. SBV is present in Wales and the SW of England.

Is it inevitable that this virus and its consequences will spread throughout Ireland? And if so, how long will it take for this to happen?

greysides

I think given the UK experience that it will spread. Not everyone would bother with vaccination and it can spread through wild deer too. I think the rate of spread over the active period for midges.

I think I've seen a rate of spread of 1 Km per day but I've been unable to check the source before posting.

A higher percentage of midges have been found to carry the virus than carry BT virus, and the 'viral load' is heavier giving a more rapid spread.

iverjohnston

In the absence of a vaccine, will we have to dip every month to keep the midges away from the sheep? Anyone got a hoard of TopClip Gold Shield in their shed? Or would that even work, ignoring the practicalities of the job?
Iver in Cavan

greysides

I think the experience from the UK is that all fly-repellents are ineffectual. I don't know about dipping.

It's all about timing. There is a zone of vulnerability of the foetus (month 2 in sheep and months 3 & 4 in cattle, roughly) where problems will be caused. Exposure before or after seems to be safe. I doubt you would know when to be dipping. Dipping sheep just gone in lamb is likely to have it's own consequences.

A vaccine to ensure all sheep are immune prior to breeding sounds like a good option and one may be available in time.

manjou

Also another problem is if your bull or ram caught the virus around time of mating season the will get over it but because the get a high tempeature it renders them temperyly infertile so you might not notice until you scan and find alot of empty cattle or sheep.

Lastin

Is it possible to test to see if animals have been infected and are those animals carriers for life? Would mixing infected animals and non infected animals provide a vaccine of sorts?

mf240

Lastin wrote: »

Is it possible to test to see if animals have been infected and are those animals carriers for life? Would mixing infected animals and non infected animals provide a vaccine of sorts?

You need the midge to spread it. but I see your logic.

leg wax

Lastin wrote: »

Is it possible to test to see if animals have been infected and are those animals carriers for life? Would mixing infected animals and non infected animals provide a vaccine of sorts?

use the 1 needle when doing the cows for lepto will cover them all at once.

greysides

Infected animals remain viraemic for 4-6 days during which time another midge can become a host by picking it up from them. It's likely the virus multiplies in the midge and is then onward transmitted. There is also a question as to whether live affected lambs contain the virus or not. I think some do but not all.

Bigbird1

There doesn't seen to be too much talk about this,for such a serious issue.Animal health is very important,its not getting the same amount of media attention as others in the past.

keep going

greysides wrote: »

I think the experience from the UK is that all fly-repellents are ineffectual. I don't know about dipping.

It's all about timing. There is a zone of vulnerability of the foetus (month 2 in sheep and months 3 & 4 in cattle, roughly) where problems will be caused. Exposure before or after seems to be safe. I doubt you would know when to be dipping. Dipping sheep just gone in lamb is likely to have it's own consequences.

A vaccine to ensure all sheep are immune prior to breeding sounds like a good option and one may be available in time.

had a couple of aborts(7 to 8 months) in cows yesterday so got a little panicky but going by this probaly something else but we will wait and see what shows up.there is a 1000 causes of abortions

pakalasa

My vet said that abortions are very high this year in Ireland. He reckons that the bad weather and poor feed has weakened the cows immunity system. They can't fight off infections to the same degree.

valtra2

ok just short update got results back from lad and nothing showed up on any of the two calfs for lepto and other, but when i asked about sbv the lab told my vet that they do not test for that from calfs that come in unless the calfs are deforemed, pity i did not know this last week, so got vet out to do bloods on cow that aborted for brussalosis and bvd and sbv, so now just wait another week:(

hurling_lad

Old fella was talking to a neighbour (about 3-4 miles away from us). Only two surviving calves from his first ten calvings and he believes that it's SBV.

Scary stuff

greysides

Published recently in the Irish Veterinary Journal:

"In recent conversations with experts in the field it would appear that the virus associated with Schmallenberg not alone survives in the midge mite responsible for it's transmission but it also survives in the midge mite's eggs and larvae.
This means that when the midge mites hatch out again next spring all of their dormant larvae that hatch out will be infective and could spread the virus. The virus is not a notifiable condition but will have serious economic impacts where and when it strikes. On the other hand, the bluetongue virus doesn't appear to survive the winter in the larval stages of the midge mite that carries it. Hence, the challenge may be renewed each year but not amplified through the intervention of dormant infective midge larvae."

greysides

New information about the spread of SBV in Ireland has been made available on the Dept. of Ag. website.



Schmallenberg Virus Summary 17 Jan 2013 (pdf 427Kb)

Schmallenberg Virus - Information Leaflet for Farmers (pdf 332Kb)

Other information.

Lastin

Greysides, why does the sbv affect flocks at different levels of severity, in the same locality and lambing dates?

greysides

I think it's a pretty haphazard effect. Local topography (wooded areas, streams, wind currents) could play a big part in it as it's going to be very driven by 'midge factors'.... habitat, breeding areas, feeding areas......

One comment I'd have about the figures being used to define it as a moderate disease is 'how are outbreaks defined/measured'? It will be a statistical measurement and you know what they say about statistics.......

The thing to bear in mind is that the story of this novel disease is still being written, facts assumed have still to be confirmed.

joe man utd

5 cows calves here in on our darm. First cow calved 2 weeks before time calf was ok but the cow had no milk.. second calf 10 days before time calf is ok too. The last 3 however calved yesterday all have something wrong with them.. severe grunting and difficulty breathing... None of them standing..none of them able to drink or none of them sitting upright. They all seem dosey and only sudden muscle spasms is the only movement.. vet calling in morn... Hoping its not the virus but I have my doubts... Heres to a sleepleess night..

speedtheplough

Had 8 dead lambs so far in wexford,6aborted, 2 disformed,want to no what farmers are doing,report infection or not....

greysides

SpeedthePlough, welcome to the forum.

The disease is not notifiable so there is no requirement to inform the Dept. The advice offered in the circumstances is to retain the ewes as they are now exposed and should be protected against having problems next year.

There are other causes of deformities/abortions but given that it is known SBV has been in circulation recently.............

How were the lambings, were you able to get them out without too much difficulty? Was there anything noticeable about the ewes beforehand?

speedtheplough

Tanks Greysides, Ewes that aborted were no bother, ones had disformed lambes had to b handled,not to bad, both had crooked legs,ewes were ok beforehand..

Conmaicne Mara

Like many I am not up to speed on SBV. In regards to sheep, and late lambing flocks. How does SBV affect them? If at all. With me, the ram is out very late October/very early November. In the higher hills they may not let the ram out until sometime in December. Does a later tipping season benefit in relation to early gestation and SBV in sheep? Or are we just not at that stage of knowledge yet?

greysides

It's all about timing............ stage of pregnancy to presence of infected midges.


Schmallenberg Virus Summary 17 Jan 2013 (pdf 427Kb)

What does this mean for herd and flock owners?

Firstly it is important to emphasise that to date we
have only confirmed 33 clinical cases despite the evidence of widespread exposure to the virus.
However there are now numerous reports from flock owners of malformed lambs being born to
early lambing flocks in the South East and a small number of these affected lambs have been
submitted to Kilkenny and Cork RVLs since Christmas.

Typical malformations in lambs can be seen in
the attached photograph which shows a lamb with stiff neck, bent limbs and shortening of the lower
jaw. Problems with malformed calves and lambs are most likely to arise when pregnant cows and
sheep are exposed to the virus during a critical time window in early to mid pregnancy (estimated to
be 40-120 days gestation in cattle and 20-80 days gestation in sheep). As the time of exposure is
uncertain it is too early to estimate what percentage of exposed herds/flocks are likely to have
affected calves/lambs. Based on the pattern in the UK and elsewhere, between 4-6% of holdings are
likely to be affected. In those holdings that are affected, the within-herd/flock impact in terms of
deformities is likely to be mild in most cases at 2-5% of affected pregnancies, but moderate at worst.
The highest level of problems would be expected in herds that have synchronised breeding
programmes and where large numbers of animals were infected during the critical period of
pregnancy in 2012.


Pictures and information.

greysides

"They are not prepared to go through this again. This is not a low-impact disease and is far worse than Bluetongue."

"We have had reports from 60 flocks experiencing substantial losses from 20% up to 50%. The losses have been widespread from as far north as North Yorkshire down to Lincolnshire, Devon, Cornwall and across into south Wales."

Vet Maarten Boers, from The Livestock Partnership, said he had seen higher than normal empty rates in suckler cows and of those empty animals, more than 90% tested positive for Schmallenberg antibodies. "One herd of 1,000 cows had 200 empty. They were vaccinated for leptospirosis and BVD and I suspect that Schmallenberg had hit bull fertility."

Schmallenberg virus 'costing farms thousands'

greysides

Grim-return-of-Schmallenberg-virus-in-UK.

slippy wicket

just a thought, if you were to set up a fogger putting out Tactic on the exit of the milking parlor later in the year could it be an aid in keeping midges away from cows.
i assume this is spread through midges feeding.

thankfully this scourge has not turned up here yet, hope I can still say that when the late calvers are done.

greysides

I don't think Taktic is an insect repellant, the datasheet suggests it's an insecticide. I would imagine you'd have withdrawal issues if it were used on dairy cows as it's outside it's intended uses.

greysides

Schmallenberg virus could be affecting adult animals far worse than previously thought, farmers and farm vets have warned.

The virus had been thought to cause only brief, mild or moderate symptoms in adult cattle, with much worse life-threatening effects in unborn cattle, sheep and goats.

But Tim Bebbington, from Castle Vets in Launceston, said the impact of the disease was not restricted to abortions and deformed foetuses.

"Every now and again several cows seem to go down quickly, with decreased milk production, scouring, low productivity and poor fertility. There's no evidence of anything else wrong except Schmallenberg."

David Horton milks 180 dairy cows at Dunsburgh Farm near Plymouth, and last year lost 15 heifers through unexplained illness.

"They just got weaker and weaker. There wasn't a test for Schmallenberg then, but the heifers that survived tested positive this year and haven't done at all well. Their calves appear brain dead and so far six have died.

"Nigel Gibbens, the chief veterinary officer, is still talking about this as a low impact disease but I disagree - it's a catastrophe waiting to happen."

Peter Clarke, co-ordinator for the Farm Crisis Network in Cornwall, said some farmers' milk yields had dropped by 50%, while other beef farmers had lost more than half their calves.

The number of beef and dairy cows scanning barren had doubled since last year, to 18%, said Mr Bebbington, who admitted feeling "very nervous about the spring calving herds".


Mr Bebbington has also received many reports of Schmallenberg in early lambing flocks, but the true picture could be far worse as the disease was still non-notifiable, he added.

Symptoms were also varied, including ewes carrying vast amounts of fluid with dead lambs. "It's looking much worse than last year, but many farmers aren't reporting it because there's nothing they can do about it - it's not a notifiable disease."

greysides

A short video: http://www.fwi.co.uk/articles/25/01/2013/137344/video-schmallenberg-disease-sheep-farmer39s-story.htm

Conmaicne Mara

Was just watching ETTG on RTE Player. Coveney declined to comment on Schmallenberg for the programme.

Why

greysides

Other things on his mind?

bb12

slippy wicket wrote: »

just a thought, if you were to set up a fogger putting out Tactic on the exit of the milking parlor later in the year could it be an aid in keeping midges away from cows.
i assume this is spread through midges feeding.

thankfully this scourge has not turned up here yet, hope I can still say that when the late calvers are done.

i have a horse who is allergic to midget bites(their saliva) so over the past 10 years i've had a lot of practice in trying to deal with them...unfortunately the bad news is that little can be done about them...the biggest problem from them is around wooded or swampy areas where they breed. not so prevalent around higher elevations where there is more wind. i've tried many potions over the years to try and keep them away but it's next to impossible. i find now that this horse himself knows when to avoid them when they're all out and walks into his stable mostly in afternoon to just before sunset to get away from them and that has always been the most successful way for him to avoid being bitten too much. i've noticed over the past couple of years though that the midget problem is getting much worse than it used to be. probably due to climate change but their bites now appear to be worse than ever before (judging by the more severe reaction of his skin to them these days) and they seem to be surviving right through the winter now. i noticed a huge amount of midgets flying about on christmas day this year which amazed me. winter and early spring used to always bring relief but it's never ending now.

Conmaicne Mara

greysides wrote: »

Other things on his mind?

I get your point but not good enough from the minister, one contributor to the programme lost 25% of his lambs due to the virus.