Veterinary surveillance blogs

Rickets in hoggs

A suspected case of rickets was submitted for postmortem last week and are waiting for histopathology to confirm the diagnosis. It is worth keeping an eye out for this condition over the next few months.…

SRUC Veterinary Services
26/01/2024

December liver fluke update

We last sent out our liver fluke forecast and thoughts in November, so thought that now would be a good time to update things given that we are approaching or already in a handling window for ewes in mid pregnancy.…

SRUC Veterinary Services
21/12/2023

Rearing wagyu cross dairy calves (meeting)

There has been a recent increase in the number of traditional beef suckler units that have started rearing Wagyu cross dairy calves as an addition to their current business. With this, a largely unfamiliar set of challenges regarding the management of these animals arise.…

SRUC Veterinary Services
21/12/2023

Hypomagnesemia in housed cattle

Over the past few weeks since housing we have diagnosed and discussed several cases of hypomagnesemia in housed beef suckler cows. While usually associated with grazing, a diagnosis of low magnesium causing death or clinical signs should not be discounted in housed animals.…

SRUC Veterinary Services
20/12/2023

Investigation of high barren rates at scanning

It is common to see sheep scanner’s trailers on the road just now for earlier lambing flocks. Hopefully early indications of scans are good, but the check list below which we issued two years ago is a useful reminder if called to investigate problems with poorer scans through this winter and put in plans to manage this going forward.…

SRUC Veterinary Services
04/12/2023

October case highlights

Case highlights from the PM room in October include: - Enterotoxaemia associated with Clostridium perfringens type D infection - Mesenteric torsion in a dog - Acute Streptococcus suis Type 1 septicaemia in piglets…

SRUC Veterinary Services
01/12/2023

New GB avian influenza wildlife interactive map and data dashboard launched

A new map and dashboard facility launched by APHA allows users to explore results from APHA’s avian influenza (AI) in wildlife surveillance programme in Great Britain.…

SRUC Veterinary Services
23/11/2023

Making the most of testing for calf respiratory disease

Investigation of respiratory disease should not solely be a ‘pathogen hunt’ but encompass a wider review of predisposing factors in the group of animals.…

SRUC Veterinary Services
14/11/2023

Louping ill: Vaccine support sought

Louping ill virus is a flavivirus, transmitted by Ixodes ricinus ticks, and is commonly found in the Highlands, Perthshire and Argyll & Bute in Scotland. SRUC makes ten to 25 diagnoses of louping ill in flocks of sheep every year, and around five diagnoses in cattle annually.…

SRUC Veterinary Services
08/11/2023

Liver fluke update

So far this autumn we have examined a lot of sheep and not seen any evidence of recently acquired liver fluke infection in sheep coming through the postmortem rooms at Dumfries and Glasgow.…

SRUC Veterinary Services
07/11/2023

Look out for Lungworm

We have seen confirmed cases of lungworm last month across all of Scotland, including Aberdeenshire. This may be as a result of the hot dry weather earlier this year followed by warm and wet weather.…

SRUC Veterinary Services
02/11/2023

September case highlights

Parasitic disease dominated the diagnoses made in Aberdeen in September with lungworm and Ostertagiasis diagnosed in cattle and gastrointestinal parasites in sheep causing ill thrift and death.…

SRUC Veterinary Services
31/10/2023