Treat foot rot or risk prosecution
Treat foot rot or risk prosecution
FAILING to treat sheep with foot rot could land flockmasters in court.
Laura Green, of Warwick University, believes that a failure to treat infected sheep due to labour shortages could be one reason for a rise in the number of prosecutions being brought by Trading Standards officers in the north east (News May 3).
"With the livestock sector particularly impoverished at the present time, many producers are cutting back on staff," says Dr Green, who is involved in vet research looking at low labour alternatives to control foot rot.
"Inadequate biosecurity measures when buying replacements could also be a cause," adds Dr Green. "When producers mix stock from different sources, it is possible that infections can spread rapidly."
Another contributing factor is that sheep may not have moved far last summer. "It is possible that pastures densely stocked last year, due to movement difficulties, could be heavily infected."
But Dr Green does not believe there is an unusually high incidence of foot rot this spring. "About 10% of the national flock is lame at any time and more than 75% have foot rot. Lame sheep are the most common cause of RSPCA prosecutions."
Moredun Research Institute vet Colin Macaldowie believes that in the wake of foot-and-mouth Trading Standards officers are targeting lameness, but there are many causes. "Ovine digital dermatitis is on the rise in upland areas." *