Animal health


Cutting-edge diagnostics improve disease


detection • Firms develop early warning systems • Better animal health and profitability • Tests are quick and easy to conduct


ew types of rapid testing mastitis and bovine tu- berculosis were among then topics discussed by experts at a recent meeting in Cambridge. Currently animal health test- ing can take weeks of culturing in a laboratory or rely on an im- mune response as an indicator of disease, rather than detecting ac- tual disease presence, scientists were told at the Agri-Tech East Pollinator event on 13 February. Agri-Tech East director Belin- da Clarke said: “Speed is vital in effective disease management; if farmers and growers have ac- cess to cost-effective tools that are simple to use on-farm then they can take a range of preventative measures to pre-empt problems. “Additionally if the tests show that there isn’t a problem this can mitigate unnecessary treatment.”


N


Rapid results After a long wait for test results for one of her animals, Katie Ca- vanagh decided there was a need for a rapid handheld diagnos- tic test for mastitis – a disease that costs the UK cattle indus- try £41.8million a year. By miniaturising a human di- agnostic method, she has devel- oped a handheld device that vets and farmers can use on-farm, to test milk and diagnose the con- dition. She is now seeking invest- ment to bring the product to mar- ket.


“This technology already ex- ists in human health,” explained Ms Cavanagh. “We’re simply taking what they do in a microbiology lab and putting it onto printed cir- cuit boards. It’s much more ac- cessible and affordable. If you can diagnose quickly and accurately,


64 ANGLIA FARMER • APRIL 2019


you can treat more effectively and reduce yield loss as well as poten- tial loss of the animal.”


Accurate tests Rapid, accurate blood and milk tests for bovine TB and Johne’s disease – both of these chron- ic diseases are caused by myco- bacteria and current tests have proved inadequate to control the diseases – with over 43,000 cat- tle slaughtered in the UK due to bovine TB in last year. PBD Biotech has developed Actiphage Rapid, a biotechnol- ogy that can confirm the pres-


“


This is a huge achievement and provides a beacon of hope


Good herd health means higher productivity


ence or absence of mycobacteria in blood or milk within six hours, enabling infected animals to be identified and isolated. The milk test can also be used for quality assurance, to confirm that dairy products are free from mycobacteria. It has already been used on a Devon farm to help achieve TB-free status for the first time in six years. PBD Biotech chief executive


Berwyn Clarke said: “This is a huge achievement and provides a beacon of hope for farmers. “Following this success, Ac- tiphage has been included in the government’s protocol for Excep- tional Private Use for chronic TB breakdowns in England. The test uses novel technology and we are involved in extensive internation- al testing to meet regulatory re- quirements.”


Study links cattle movements to infection spread them.


Buying and selling cattle can spread infections that cause major health, welfare and eco- nomic problems for the Brit- ish farming industry, suggests a study.


Complex networks of “con-


tact chains” between British farms were investigated by veterinary researcher Helen Fielding from Exeter Univer- sity. Researchers analysed 75 million cattle movements be- tween farms from 2001-2015. By looking at 12 month peri- ods of trading, the study found that around half of all British cattle farms were connected to more than 1,000 other farms every year when they bought in


cattle. Some 16% of farms were connected to more than 10,000 other farms in a single year. When selling cattle, the con-


tact chains were similarly ex- tensive. Some two-thirds of farms were connected to more than 1,000 other farms, with 15% of farms again linked to more than 10,000 farms in a single year. More than 13,000 farms had contact chains extending to more than 10,000 other farms by selling and more than 10,000 farms by buying, in any sin- gle year. These super-connect- ed farms could potentially be particularly exposed to infec- tions and particularly able to


The study findings were pub- lished last month by the Roy- al Society. Ms Fielding said: “We found that farms, even if they only bought cattle from one or two other farms, could be at the end of a chain connecting their farm and their animals to sever- al thousand other farms.” One farm in Devon bought only six cattle in one year. Those six cattle came from four farms, and those four farms were con- nected in two steps back to ten others. Tracking back 12 months, the sequence of links to the one Devon farm extend- ed to 11,132 farms.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76