This section contains details of disease control measures and of general controls that should be put in place to reduce the risk of disease in your animals. Information is also included on notifiable disease and on specific diseases of particular significance such as foot and mouth . This area also covers information and guidance on livestock identification and traceability.
Bacterial and Viral Infections
All animals can suffer from bacterial or viral infections, though the risks of infection can be greatly reduced by following some simple biosecurity measures (as laid out in the general disease control pages).
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs)
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies is the name for group of diseases that includes scrapie, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). TSEs are slow progressive neurodegenerative disorders that produce changes in the brain resulting in death. The nature of the causal agent and mechansims for replication of infectivity are unknown.
Since 2001, EU Member States have been required to undertake surveillance for Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies in specific populations of cattle, sheep and goats. In 2007 the TSE testing programme required that 15,000 fallen sheep were tested and a number of goats aged over 18 months destined for human consumption to be tested annually. To help meet this obligation farmers should contact the TSE Surveillance Helpline on 0800 525 890 rather than their local Animal Health Divisional Office. Sheep must be aged over 18 months and must have died within the last 24 hours.
Zoonoses
A zoonosis is defined as 'a disease naturally transmissible between vertebrates and man', of which there are a great variety, such as samonellosis, bovine tuberculosis, and rabies. They can be spread through various means, depending on the disease itself, and some can cause fatal disease (e.g. rabies and anthrax) whereas others may initiate outbreaks of relatively mild, but potentially incapacitating, illness (e.g. salmonellosis).
Zoonoses have emerging importance due in part to increasing public awareness of the danger of infections from foods of animal origin. The United Kingdom Zoonoses Report 2007 ( www.defra.gov.uk) draws together information from a number of sources and gives information on the situation in man, food and animals.
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