Pneumonia survey has an upbeat note (From Salisbury Journal)

Pneumonia survey has an upbeat note

6:50am Thursday 29th December 2011 in Rural Focus By Anne Connon

ALMOST 60 per cent of farmers lost calves to pneumonia over the past year, with more than half seeing the disease in more than five per cent of their youngstock.

That’s the headline finding from an independent disease incidence and management survey of more than 750 UK cattle farmers last autumn.

However, despite the widespread prevalence of pneumonia the survey results, show some encouraging signs that livestock producers are improving disease management practices.

Adviser to the survey is vet James Allcock, of XL Vets practice Lambert, Leonard and May. He said: “When it comes to preventing calf pneumonia problems on UK cattle units, it is reassuring to see farmers are recognising the importance of good management practices.

"For example, nearly three-quarters of respondents said they pay good attention to colostrum feeding and more than 85 per cent are attempting to manage environmental risk factors.

“There are also encouraging signs in the way farmers are treating animals showing signs of the disease. Nearly 50 per cent now claim to be using a combination antibiotic/anti-inflammatory product.

"This is what I would recommend for treating clinically sick animals: an effective antibiotic is required to kill bacteria quickly to stop the disease spreading further and the anti-inflammatory reduces inflammation, limiting permanent lung damage and helping to ensure a speedy recovery.

The fact that half the farmers participating in this survey are using combination treatment is encouraging and a definite improvement on the situation found in surveys undertaken five years ago.”

But, as we move into the peak disease period on UK units, the survey findings also highlight opportunities to improve disease management practices still further.

For example, only onethird of farmers claim to involve their vet in trying to prevent pneumonia problems and only 27 per cent routinely vaccinate against the disease, despite there being a range of effective vaccines available.”

Mr Allcock said: “Generally speaking, pneumonia is a complex disease caused by an interaction between various infectious agents (bacterial, viral or both), the environment and the immune status of the individual animal.

A preventative approach involving broad-spectrum vaccination and good management is the key to controlling the risk factors that increase the chance of the disease.”