Farmers need to wake up to threat of jaagsiekte virus
FARMERS must “wake up” to the threat of the jaagsiekte virus that is spreading through flocks causing severe loss of production and killing ewes, the conference heard.
Vet Patrick Grant from Parklands Veterinary Group in Cookstown, Northern Ireland, said the disease was already present in Ireland and it must be dealt with.
Mr Grant, who scanned over 4,000 ewes for it in January, said the lambing period is a critical time as it spreads from ewes to lambs. “Flocks I’m scanning can range on average between 4-7pc with it,” he said, warning it was not a disease they would recover from or make any money for the farmer.
Jaagsiekte is also known as ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (OPA) and is a contagious tumour of the lungs caused by a virus known as jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus.
It can spread through close contact but also from ewe to lamb in the womb and via colostrum.
Jason Barley from AFBI veterinary science division in Belfast warned they were noticing an increased prevalence of it. He said around 4pc of the ewes and lambs coming into their diagnostic labs were diagnosed with it as the cause of death. However, he said that was the “tip of the iceberg” as it is mostly below the surface.
He said it was showing a prevalence of 1.6pc in the south.
Mr Barley said it was vital that farmers picked up on it during flock planning stage, with strict attention paid to thin ewes and information sought on fallen stock. He said lambs from infected ewes should not be kept for breeding as it transmits.
He said the ‘wheelbarrow test’ where a ewe is tipped up and a lot of fluid comes down the nose is too late to be detecting it, as she will already have shed a lot of the virus.
Mr Grant said scanning of the chest does show up the tumours. “It is a disease that you need to wake up about. I’ve seen sheep worth thousands coming across the water and dying within months,” he said.
The experts said an industry initiative was needed to tackle it similar to the BVD scheme, with accreditation for clean flocks that have been scanned for three years.