Vets spread the word on dairy disease

Published on Thursday 5 November 2009 17:58

VETS and college advisers are stepping up the campaign to reduce incidence of a debilitating disease in dairy cows, with a series of meetings giving advice on Johne's disease.

This disease, which attacks the small intestine, reducing its ability to absorb food, has become increasingly common in the past decade.

Speaking yesterday, George Caldow, a vet based in St Boswells, believes Johne's now has a significant impact on production in dairy herds across the country. It was considered that the problem lay in some parts of the country and not in others, but Caldow said there was no evidence to support that view.

He believes that part of the reason for the recent increase in the disease has been that dairy herds have grown in size through buying cows from other farms.

This intake has allowed infected cattle to be brought in even if they show no symptoms of the disease.

In the meetings to highlight to producers how they can manage the disease, such introduction will be discouraged.

There are also a number of management issues regarding the feeding of young calves. Often there is a shared use of colostrum, rather than the mother's own milk, which vets say should be used.

Regular testing should also be carried out and if the incidence of the disease is not too high, the affected animals should be culled. Diagnosis is not yet foolproof, and it is possible for farmers to think they have got rid of the problem only for it to flare up again. A programme of annual testing is required to keep monitoring for infection.

In herds where the incidence is as high as 10 or 20 per cent, Caldow accepted that it was not possible to pursue a cull policy. In such cases, it was essential to use management to keep healthy animals separate from infected ones.